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Morphological re-description and molecular characterization of Kudoa pagrusi (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) infecting the heart muscles of the common sea bream fish Pagrus pagrus (Perciformes: Sparidae) from the Red Sea, Egypt

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Abstract

In the present study, 100 samples of different sizes of the common sea bream fish Pagrus pagrus were collected from the Egyptian water along the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea and examined for the prevalence of myxosporidian parasites in general and Kudoa spp. in particular. Fish samples were thoroughly externally examined. After dissection, all the internal organs were removed and examined. A total of 60 out of 100 fish specimens were found to be infected with Kudoa stages. Parasitic infection was restricted to the heart muscles of the examined fish. None of the other organs was found to be infected. Macroscopic cysts (plasmodia) heavily infested the different parts of the heart muscles. Each plasmodium measured 1.2–2.5 (1.53 ± 0.2) mm × 0.63–0.80 (0.65 ± 0.2) mm. Mature spores are quadratic in shape in the apical view showing four equal valves and four symmetrical polar capsules. Fresh spores were 5.0–7.1 (5.7 ± 0.2) μm long × 5.4–8.5 (6.1 ± 0.3) μm wide. On the basis of spore morphology, the present species was identified as Kudoa pagrusi. Morphometric characterization revealed that the relatively small size of this Kudoa species was the distinctive feature that separates it from all previously described species. Molecular analysis based on small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences revealed that the highest percentage of identity was observed with K. scomberomori and followed by K. shiomitsui, K. hypoepicarclialis, K. amamiensis, and K. kenti. The kudoid spores showed morphometric variations to some extents but had essentially identical nucleotide sequences of the SSU rDNA gene sequences closest to those of K. scomberomori and K. shiomitsui recorded from elasmobranchs in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The present findings support the identification of an ancestral marine origin of the present Kudoa species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, for providing all the facilities to complete this work. In addition, the authors extend their appreciations to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding the work through the international research group project IRG14-23.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Fathy Abdel-Ghaffar & Rewaida Abdel-Gaber

  2. Zoology Department, Faculty of Women for Arts, Science and Education, Ain Shams University, Heliopolis, Egypt

    Sherein Maher

  3. Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Saleh Al Quraishy

  4. Parasitology Institute, Düsseldorf University, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Heinz Mehlhorn

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  1. Fathy Abdel-Ghaffar
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  2. Rewaida Abdel-Gaber
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  3. Sherein Maher
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  4. Saleh Al Quraishy
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  5. Heinz Mehlhorn
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Correspondence to Fathy Abdel-Ghaffar.

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Abdel-Ghaffar, F., Abdel-Gaber, R., Maher, S. et al. Morphological re-description and molecular characterization of Kudoa pagrusi (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) infecting the heart muscles of the common sea bream fish Pagrus pagrus (Perciformes: Sparidae) from the Red Sea, Egypt. Parasitol Res 115, 3175–3184 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5077-3

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