title: Morphology, seasonality and phylogeny of Zschokkella trachini n. sp. (Myxozoa, Myxosporea) infecting the gallbladder of greater weever Trachinus draco (L.) from Tunisian waters.
abstract: We describe a new myxosporean species, Zschokkella trachini n. sp., infecting the gallbladder of greater weever Trachinus draco Linnaeus 1758 from Tunisia. This is the first record of Zschokkella species in T. draco. Plasmodia were polysporic producing six to eight mature spores; they were attached to the gallbladder epithelium or free floating in the bile. Mature spores were sub-ovoid in the frontal view, measured 15.2 ± 0.6 (14.4-16.0) μm in length and 9.8 ± 0.7 (9.0-10.8) μm in width. Two equal spherical polar capsules 4.0 ± 0.4 (3.6-4.5) μm in diameter, were located separately at the spore's extremities. The prevalence of infection ranged from 23.5 to 87.7 %. Morphological data and molecular analysis of the small subunit rDNA gene identified this parasite as a new species of Zschokkella. Neighbour joining clustered the parasite in a sub-clade containing other Zschokkella species parasiting the gallbladder of marine fish hosts, located within the coelozoic clade of the major freshwater clade. This is the second Zschokkella species reported from Tunisia.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Integrative Biology and Evolutionary and Functional Ecology of Aquatic Systems, Faculty of Science of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, El Manar I 2092, Tunis, Tunisia. ramla_azizichaabani@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Ramla
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azizi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Pathology, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences (FCUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Rangel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Pathology, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences (FCUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Pathology, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), Biology Department, Faculty of Sciences (FCUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Integrative Biology and Evolutionary and Functional Ecology of Aquatic Systems, Faculty of Science of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, El Manar I 2092, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sihem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000166:cytology / Q000469:parasitology; D055764:Myxozoa / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D010473:Perciformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012621:Seasons; D013170:Spores; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014867:Water / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: Morphology; Myxosporean; Phylogeny; Seasonality; Trachinus draco; Tunisia; Zschokkella trachini n. sp.