Eimeria spp.

Miglionico, Marcos Tobias de Santana, Viana, Lúcio André, Barbosa, Helene Santos, Mota, Ester Maria, Neto, Sócrates Fraga da Costa, Frazão-Teixeira, Edwards & Sergio, Paulo, 2018, A new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 from the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with notes on its endogenous development in the montane grass mouse, Akodon montensis Thomas, 1913 (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae), Parasitology Research (371) 117 (2), pp. 371-376 : 371-372

Eimeria spp. are protozoan parasites with worldwide distribution that might cause enteritis in many vertebrate species

* Marcos Tobias de Santana Miglionico [e-mail]

1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil

2 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, AP 68903-419, Brazil

3 Laboratório de Biologia Estrutural, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil

4 Laboratório de Patologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil

5 Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz, Rio de

Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil

( Duszynski and Upton 2001). In Brazil, only three species are known to infect Sigmodontinae rodents: Eimeria oryzomysi Carini, 1937 from specimens of Oryzomyini rodents; Eimeria zygodontomyis Lainson and Shaw, 1990 in Zygodontomys lasiurus [= Necromys lasiurus (Lund, 1840) ], and Besnoitia akodoni Dubey, Sreekumar, Rosenthal, Lindsay, Grisard and Vitor, 2003 in Akodon montensis .

The rodent family Cricetidae has 130 genera encompassing 681 species, 55 of which are endemic in Brazil. The cricetid genus Akodon Meyen, 1833 has 44 species distributed throughout South America (Musser and Carlenton 2005), with 10 species being found in Brazil, on the east coast between Paraíba and Rio Grande do Sul, and inland in highland areas of Minas Gerais, and in the southwest of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul ( Bonvicino et al. 2008). The ecology and taxonomy of some common Akodon species are well known. They are found in a range of different environments, both pristine and impacted, in addition to their epidemiological importance, as reservoirs of zoonoses ( Oliveira et al. 2012; Müller et al. 2013; Teixeira et al. 2014). Four species are found in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro — Akodon cursor (Winger, 1887) , Akodon serrensis (Thomas, 1902) , Akodon paranaensis Christoff et al., 2000 , and Akodon montensis Thomas, 1913 ( Paglia et al. 2012). These rodents are terrestrial insectivore-omnivores ( Graipel et al. 2003).

The present study describes a new species of Eimeria , with notes on its endogenous development in the montane grass mouse, Akodon montensis .