Cryptosporidiosis in the gourami Trichogaster leeri: Description of a new species and a proposal for a new genus, Piscicryptosporidium, for species infecting fish

Abstract

Piscicryptosporidium reichenbachklinkei n. gen. n. sp. from the stomach mucosa of gourami Trichogaster leeri is described from ultrathin sections studied by electron microscopy. The new genus Piscicryptosporidium is proposed to include P. reichenbachklinkei n. sp., and P cichlidans n. sp., previously described as Cryptosporidium sp. from cichlid fishes of the genus Oreochromis. Another previously described Chloromyxum-like organism from Sparus auratus also appears to belong to this genus but fine structural data are not available for complete species diagnosis. All these 3 cryptosporidians are found in the stomachs of their piscine hosts and differ from all other known species of Cryptosporidium in that their sporulating oocysts sink into the basal part of the gut epithelium, or into the Lamina propria, rather than being evacuated into the gut lumen. In the species from gouramis and cichlids studied by electron microscopy, the microvilli of the epithelial host cells, or their vestiges, are retained on the surface of the parasitophorous sac enclosing the parasite.