Supplemental diagnosis of a myxozoan parasite from common carp Cyprinus carpio: Synonymy of Thelohanellus xinyangensis with Thelohanellus kitauei

• Published in: Veterinary parasitology Vol. 178; no. 3; pp. 355 - 359
• Main Authors: Liu, Y., Whipps, C.M., Liu, W.S., Zeng, L.B., Gu, Z.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 10-06-2011
• Subjects: Animals; Base Sequence; Carps - parasitology; Common carp; DNA, Protozoan - chemistry; DNA, Protozoan - genetics; Intestines - parasitology; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning - veterinary; Molecular Sequence Data; Myxozoa; Myxozoa - classification; Myxozoa - genetics; Myxozoa - ultrastructure; Phylogenetics; Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; RNA, Ribosomal - chemistry; RNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Spores, Protozoan - genetics; Spores, Protozoan - ultrastructure; Thelohanellus kitauei; Thelohanellus xinyangensis; Myxozoa; Phylogenetics; Common carp; Thelohanellus kitauei; Thelohanellus xinyangensis
• ISSN: 0304-4017; 1873-2550
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.01.008

Thelohanellus kitauei Egusa et Nakajima, 1981, was described from common carp
Cyprinus carpio L. in Japan. In China, a myxosporean infecting the intestinal tissue of the same host species was described as
Thelohanellus xinyangensis Xie, Gong, Xiao, Guo, Li et Guo, 2000, despite many similarities to
T. kitauei. To examine the potential conspecificity of these species, a morphological and molecular investigation of
T. xinyangensis was conducted. Comparing myxospore morphology, the mean spore length and width of each species is not identical between species, but ranges of dimensions overlap. These data are more suggestive of intraspecific variation than distinct species. Comparison of relative ratios of spore length to polar capsule length and spore width to polar capsule width of
T. xinyangensis and
T. kitauei reveal no differences and scanning electron microscopy reveals a smooth spore surface of
T. xinyangensis, which is consistent with that of
T. kitauei. Most convincingly, DNA sequences of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) gene of the two species were identical. From the morphological and molecular biological data, we propose
T. xinyangensis from the intestine of common carp is not a distinct species and is synonymous with
T. kitauei.