Alataspora budegassai, Afonso-Dias, Isabel, Kalavati, Chaganti, Mackenzie, Ken & Mackenzie, Kevin S., 2007

Afonso-Dias, Isabel, Kalavati, Chaganti, Mackenzie, Ken & Mackenzie, Kevin S., 2007, Three new species of Myxosporea (Bivalvulida: Ceratomyxidae: Alatasporidae) from the gall bladders of anglerfishes Lophius spp. (Teleostei: Lophiidae) in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Zootaxa 1466, pp. 35-46 : 38-42

Alataspora budegassai n. sp. (Figures 4–9)

Material studied

Host: Lophius budegassa Spinola

Site of infection: gall bladder

Localities, dates and depths: (1) 36°56ˏN, 07°38ˏW, 5 June, 2000, 250m; (2) 36°51ˏN, 08°00ˏW, 9 June, 2000, 200m; (3) 36°50ˏN, 08°58ˏW, 14 June, 2000, 250m; (4) 36°46ˏN, 08°36ˏW, 24 October, 2000, 450m; (5) 36°50ˏN, 08°30ˏW, 16 April, 2001, depth unknown (all off Algarve, southern Portugal).

Prevalence: (1) 3 of 3; (2) 1 of 1; (3) 1 of 1; (4) 1 of 1; (5) 2 of 2.

Host length range: (1) 30–36 cm; (2) 35 cm; (3) 37 cm; (4) 36 cm; (5) 70–96 cm.

Collection number: 2005:7:1:2.

Description

Trophozoite (Figure 4) irregular in shape, drifting freely in the bile. Dimensions: 28.8–60.4 (n=16) with 4–5 fine filopodia and variable numbers of nuclei.

FIGURES 4–7. Alataspora budegassai n. sp. 4. Trophozoite, stained with Giemsa. 5. Sporoblast, unstained fixed specimen. 6. Spore, sutural view, stained with Giemsa. 7. Spore, sutural view, unstained fixed specimen. Scale-bars: 10µ m

Sporoblast (Figures 5, 8, 9) disporous, roughly spindle-shaped with two long extensions, one free with a characteristic hook at the end ( Figure 8 ), the other attached to the wall of the gall bladder with tendril-like extensions ( Figure 9 ). Dimensions, based on 10 fixed specimens: 45.0–54.0 x 12.6–16.4.

Spore (Figures 6, 7) broad, flat and triangular in sutural view, flat and extended in valvular view. Sutural line straight, thin and distinct. Sporoplasm binucleate. Valve shells drawn out into alate membranous processes without venation adherent to posterior part of valve. Polar capsules spherical. Polar filament with 3–4 coils. Dimensions, based on 30 fixed spores, as ranges with means ± SD in parentheses: spore length 12.0– 14.4 (12.8 ± 0.7); spore width, including alate processes 86.0–159.6 (120.5 ± 20.6); spore width, excluding alate processes 32.0–39.6 (34.6 ± 2.6); diameter of polar capsule 4.6–6.4 (5.6 ± 0.5); polar capsule length: spore length = 1: 2.6–3.6; spore length: spore width = 1: 2.1–3.2.

Glyptocephalus stelleri ,

Acanthopsetta nadeshnui

A. opisthocentri (Dogiel, 1948) 5.0–7.0 14.0–17.0 1.5 1.5 Opisthocentrus ocellatus Sea of Japan

A. parvicapsula Shulman , Kova- 5.9–6.4 9.7 2.0–2.5 1.5 Aulopus cadenati Atlantic Ocean off Gulf Discussion

The features that justify the inclusion of this species in the genus Alataspora are the extreme lateral elongation of the spore and the long membranous processes that adhere to the posterior edges of the valves. Of the 16 previously described species of Alataspora , A. budegassai is most similar in spore dimensions to A. africana Shulman, Kovaleva & Dubina, 1979 ( Table 2 ). The latter species was described from the perciform fish Callanthias ruber caught off Western Sahara. The description of A. africana is brief and lacking in detail so, taking this into consideration together with the host and locality differences, we feel justified in considering our species from L. budegassa to be new. This is the first report of an Alataspora sp. from the genus Lophius , and A. budegassai appears to be unique within the genus in that in young spores the alate processes are wound around the valves. However, some of the previous descriptions of Alataspora spp. are brief and incomplete, so this feature may have been missed.

Gall bladders were missing in 37 of the 45 specimens of L. budegassa viscera obtained. All of the gall bladders examined were infected with A. budegassai .

The myxosporean genus Alataspora has been referred to erroneously as Alatospora in several publications. The name Alatospora is preoccupied by a genus of aquatic hyphomycete and the myxosporean genus was originally named as Alataspora by Shulman et al. (1979). The problem appears to have originated with the misspelling of the generic name in the otherwise admirable textbook on protozoan parasites of fishes by Lom & Dykova (1992), in which the family name Alatasporidae is also misspelled as Alatosporidae . These misspellings highlight the importance of authors checking the original descriptions of species and genera rather than blindly accepting secondary references.

Figures

FIGURES 8 – 9. Alataspora budegassai n. sp. 8. SEM of sporoblast, showing hooked free end (arrowed). 9. TEM of section of sporoblast, showing tendrils attached to wall of gall bladder (arrowed). Scale-bars: 10 μm

Tables

TABLE 2. A comparison of the spore dimensions of Alataspora budegassai with those of the other species in the genus. Measurements are in micrometres. ND = no data.

Species of Alataspora A. budegassai n sp. A. adelia Aseeva, 2003 A. africana Shulman, Kovaleva	Spore Length Thickness 12.0–14.4 32.0–39.6 6.5–8.5 40.0–56.0 11.7–13.9 32.2–34.0	Polar capsule Length Width 2.6–3.6 2.1–3.2 1.8–2.0 1.8–2.0 3.7–4.3 2.1–2.7	Host Lophius budegassa Glyptocephalus stelleri Callanthias ruber	Locality South coast of Portugal Sea of Japan Atlantic Ocean off
and Dubina, 1979 A. bialata Aseeva, 1992 A. caproi Gaevskaya and Kova-	7.0–11.0 24.0–38.0 7.3–9.3 20.0–29.3	2.6–2.8 2.6–2.8 3.0–4.0 3.0–4.0	Lepidopsetta bialata Capros aper	Western Sahara NW Pacific Ocean Celtic Sea
leva, 1984 A. contriocapsularia Shulman ,	6.4–6.5 18.0–26.0	3.2 2.1	Macrorhamphosus graci-	Atlantic Ocean off
Kovaleva and Dubina, 1979 A. dracoidea Shulman , Koval-	6.4–8.6 16.0–18.2	2.6–3.2 2.7	lis Chlorophthalmus agassisi	Western Sahara Atlantic Ocean off Gulf
eva and Dubina, 1979 A. lepidum Gaevskaya and	6.0–6.6 42.6–58.5	3.2 2.7–3.0	Eutrigla gurnardus	of Guinea Celtic Sea
Kovaleva, 1979 A. longialata Aseeva, 2003	12.0–14.0 80.0–112.0	5.2–6.2 4.8	Hippoglossoides dubius ,	Sea of Japan