title: Characterisation of Isospora lusitanensis n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Eurasian blackbird Turdus merula Linnaeus (Passeriformes: Turdidae) in mainland Portugal.
abstract: A new coccidian species (Protozoa: Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) is described from a specimen of the Eurasian blackbird Turdus merula Linnaeus held for rehabilitation and reintroduction into the wild in a centre for research and recovery of wild animals in Quinta de Marim, Olhão, Portugal. Isospora lusitanensis n. sp. has subspherical to ovoidal oöcysts, measuring on average 26.4 × 23.4 μm, with smooth, bi-layered wall c.1.1 μm thick. Micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent, but a polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal, measuring on average 16.0 × 10.9 µm. Stieda body is knob-like and sub-Stieda body is prominent and rounded. Sporocyst residuum is composed of scattered spherules. Sporozoites are vermiform, with one refractile body and a nucleus. The morphological and morphometric data for the new species were compared with those for species parasitising birds of the Muscicapidae, Turdidae, Timaliidae, Troglodytidae and Cinclidae, which are considered phylogenetically close. The original histograms of Isospora turdi Schwalbach, 1959 were redrawn for comparison with I. lusitanensis n. sp. and a linear regression of width against length of the oöcysts is presented for characterisation. This is the first isosporoid coccidian described from T. merula in mainland Portugal.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biomedicina Translacional, Escola de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Grande Rio, Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação em Agropecuária, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sergian Vianna
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Cardozo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, BR-465 km 7, 23897-970 Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. bertobp@ufrrj.br.
authors.forename: Bruno Pereira
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Berto
authors.affiliation: Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Isabel Pereira
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: da Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar/Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomás
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitário Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fátima Regina P B
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Thode
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia Animal, Instituto de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Wilson G
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007549:Isospora / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology; D033661:Oocysts / Q000166:cytology; D011174:Portugal; D020308:Songbirds / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity