Abstract
A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) is described from faecal samples of two of three southern short-tailed shrews, Blarina carolinensis (Bachman) (Soricidae) from southeastern Oklahoma, USA. Oöcysts of Eimeria tkachi n. sp. are subspheroidal to ovoidal with a rough-pitted, tan colored, bi-layered wall, measure 16.5 × 15.2 µm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.1; both micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent, but polar granule(s) are present. Sporocysts are ovoidal, 9.5 × 6.5 µm, L/W 1.4; a distinct button-like Stieda body is present, but the sub-Stieda and para-Stieda bodies are absent and the sporocyst residuum is composed of large globules distributed throughout the sporocyst. Sporozoites have a spheroidal anterior refractile body, a subspheroidal posterior refractile body, and one centrally-located nucleus. This is the smallest eimerian described thus far from the Soricidae, the initial description of a coccidian from B. carolinensis, and the first from any shrew from Oklahoma.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Renn Tumlison (HSU) and Scott L. Gardner and Gabor R. Racz (HWML) for expert curatorial assistance. We also thank Matthew B. Connior (NW Arkansas Community College, Bentonville, Arkansas) for providing faecal samples from B. carolinensis from Arkansas. A scientific collecting permit (number 6477) was provided to C.T.M. by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Funding
This study was supported, in part, by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2P20GM103432), National Institutes of Health (NIH) to R.S. Seville. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
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This article was registered in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) as urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8198DE76-F4FB-4408-B299-3640114F72B2. This article was published as an Online First article on the online publication date shown on this page. The article should be cited by using the doi number. This is the Version of Record.
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McAllister, C.T., Seville, R.S. A new eimerian (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from southern short-tailed shrews, Blarina carolinensis (Bachman) (Soricimorpha: Soricidae: Soricinae) from southeastern Oklahoma, USA. Syst Parasitol 94, 711–716 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-017-9730-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-017-9730-8