Eimeria psittacarae Tucunduva and Berto, 2018

Tucunduva, Priscila, Rodrigues, Mariana Borges, Carvalho, Raquel Batista Junger De & Berto, Bruno Pereira, 2018, Eimeria psittacarae n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeiriidae) from white-eyed parakeets Psittacara leucophthalmus (Müller, 1776) (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) kept for rehabilitation and reintroduction in the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos, Southeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 4459 (1), pp. 164-170 : 165

Eimeria psittacarae Tucunduva and Berto n. sp.

Type host: White-eyed parakeet Psittacara leucophthalmus (Müller, 1776) (Aves: Psittaciformes : Psittacidae ).

Type locality: Sector of Fauna of the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (22°29'43"S, 43°04'25"W), Southeastern Brazil.

Type-material: Photosyntypes, line drawing, and oocysts in 70% ethanol are deposited at the Museu de Zoologia at the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under accession number MZURPTZ2017004. Phototypes and line drawings are also deposited and available (http://r1.ufrrj.br/labicoc/ colecao.html) in the Parasitology Collection of the Laboratório de Biologia de Coccídios, at UFRRJ, under repository number P-84/2017. Photographs of the type-host specimen (symbiotype) are deposited in the same collection.

Site of infection: Unknown.

Prevalence: One of 8 (12.5%).

Sporulation: Exogenous. All oocysts were passed in the feces unsporulated and were fully sporulated by day 7 in K2Cr2O7 solution at room temperature.

Etymology: The specific epithet is derived from the generic name of the type host.

Description ( Figs 1 ; 2A–D ).

Oocyst (n = 19) ellipsoidal, 29–39 × 22–28 (34.8 × 24.3); length/width (L/W) ratio 1.3–1.5 (1.4). Wall bilayered, delicate, 1.61.9 (1.7) thick, outer layer smooth, c.2/3 of total thickness. Micropyle inconspicuous, but easily perceptible when there is an invagination of the inner layer, 5–8 (6.0) wide. Oocyst residuum absent, but 1 or 2 rounded polar granules are present, 2–3 (2.3). Sporocyst elongate ellipsoidal, 18–20 × 9–10 (19.2 × 9.7); L/W ratio 1.9–2.1 (2.1). Stieda body present, knob-like, 1.0 high × 2.0 wide. Sub-Stieda body present, rounded, sometimes homogeneous with the Stieda body, 1.0 high × 2.0 wide. Para-Stieda body absent. Sporocyst residuum present, as a distinctly sub-spherical body consisting of numerous small granules that appear to be membranebounded, 6–7 (6.6). Sporozoites vermiform, with single posterior refractile body and a nucleus.

Remarks: Eimeria psittacarae is different from other coccidian species of Psittaciformes of the New World on several aspects ( Table 1). It is the only one to have a micropyle ( Fig. 2A, B ). In addition, although the oocyst measurements are similar to Eimeria aratinga Upton and Wright, 1994 and Eimeria aestivae Hofstatter and Guaraldo, 2011 , E. psittacarae differs from these two species in shape, number and shape of polar granules and in the details of the sporocyst residuum ( Upton & Wright 1994, Hofstatter & Guaraldo, 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Line drawing of a sporulated oocyst of Eimeria psittacarae n. sp., a new coccidium species recovered from the white-eyed parakeet Psittacara leucophthalmus. Scale-bar: 10µm.

FIGURE 2. Photomicrographs (A–D) of sporulated oocysts of Eimeria psittacarae n. sp., a new coccidium species recovered from the white-eyed parakeet Psittacara leucophthalmus. Note the micropyle (m), polar granule (pg), inner (il) and outer (ol) layer of the delicate wall of an oocyst shriveled after a short time in saturated solution, Stieda body (sb), sub-stieda body (ssb), sporocyst residuum (sr), refractile body (rb) and the nucleus (n). Scale-bar: 10µm.