title: Caryospora matatu n. sp., a new coccidian parasite (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the horned bush-viper, Atheris ceratophorus Werner, 1895 from Tanzania.
abstract: Caryospora matatu n. sp. is the first species of coccidia reported from the a horned bush viper, Atheris ceratophorus endemic to Tanzania. Oocysts are spherical or slightly subspherical, 19.8 (16-23) microns, a micropyle and an oocyst residuum are absent, a single polar granule is present. An oocyst wall is bilayered, approximately 1.5 microns thick, brownish and distinctly pitted. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, 15.6 (12.5-17.0) x 10.1 (8-12) microns, tightly fitting an internal oocyst diameter, Stieda and substieda bodies are present. An experimental inoculation of SCID mice did not confirm a facultatively heteroxenous life cycle in the studied coccidium. Morphology and evolutionary history of Caryospora species from viperids is is reviewed and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. modryd@vfu.cz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Modrý
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Slapeta
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koudela
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D021743:Eimeriidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D033661:Oocysts; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D013636:Tanzania; D017819:Viperidae / Q000469:parasitology*