Isospora annthomassonae, Jamriška & López & Modrý, 2012

Jamriška, Ján, López, F. Javier & Modrý, David, 2012, A New Species of Isospora Schneider, 1881 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Himalayan Black Bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus (Gmelin, 1789) (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae), Acta Protozoologica 51 (1), pp. 81-85 : 82

Isospora annthomassonae n. sp.

Description of the oocyst: Sporulated oocysts are subspherical to slightly ellipsoidal, 32.0 ± 1.5 × 29.4 ± 1.3 (30–35 × 27–31, N = 30); shape index (length/ width ratio) 1.0 (1.0–1.2). Oocyst wall is smooth and bilayered, 1.1 ± 0.1 (1.0–1.2, N = 30). The outer layer is thicker, brownish in colour and with a light stippling. Micropyle, oocyst residuum and polar granule are absent. Sporocysts are broadly ellipsoidal, 24.6 ± 1.4 × 12.9 ± 0.7 (22–28 × 12–14, N = 50), with smooth, single layered wall; shape index 1.0 (1.7–2.2). Knob-like Stieda body is present, 1.1 ± 0.1 × 3.8 ± 0.4 (0.9–1.2 × 3.5–4, N = 20), with a subspherical substiedal body 4.2 ± 0.3 × 3.4 ± 0.4 (4–5 × 3–4.5, N = 30). A sporocyst residuum is present, which is broadly ellipsoidal, 11.3 ± 0.8 × 9.5 ± 0.7 (9–13 × 8–11, N = 20) and composed of hundreds of small granules. The two sporozoites are elongated, slightly curved, each with two refractile bodies. Anterior refractile body is spherical 3.5 (3.1–3.5, N = 10); the posterior one is elongate 10.1 ± 0.7 × 4 ± 0.3 (9–11.5 × 3.5–5, N = 20). The nuclei of the sporozoites were not well discernible.

Type-host: Hypsipetes leucocephalus (Gmelin, 1789) ( Passeriformes : Pycnonotidae ) (usually referred to as Himalayan Black Bulbul or Asian Black Bulbul). All examined birds were hatched in captivity, some originated from parents captured from the wild.

Type-locality: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, Channel Islands.

Site of infection: Unknown, oocysts were recovered from faeces.

Sporulation: Exogenous, oocysts became sporulated within 6 days at 23°C.

Type-specimens: Digital photomicrographs on CD deposited at the type parasitological collection of the Institute of Parasitology , Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, No. IP ProtColl. 19 .

Etymology: The species is named in honour of Ann Thomasson, a veterinary biologist from the Veterinary Department at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust on Jersey.