Taxonomy and phylogeny of Myxobolus branchiostegi sp. nov. (Myxozoa, Myxosporea) infecting the gallbladder of Branchiostegus argentatus Cuvier, 1830 from the East China Sea

By

Xiong, Yalin
Zhao, Yuanjun
Chen, Xue
Wang, Mao
Peng, Jianjun
Cui, Xiaojuan
Yang, Chengzhong

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-11-27

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

101

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

2357--2367

Subjects

Branchiostegus argentatus , Myxobolus branchiostegi sp. nov. , Phylogeny , SSU rDNA , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.170695

 

Abstract

<br> Myxobolus branchiostegi<br> sp. nov.<br> was detected in the gallbladder of six out of 28 specimens (21.4%) of<br> Branchiostegus argentatus<br> Cuvier, 1830 from the East China Sea. This is the first record of a<br> Myxobolus<br> species infecting this host. Mature myxospores of the new species were oval in valvular view, measuring 9.21 ± 0.52 µm (8.3–9.8 µm) in length and 7.40 ± 0.60 µm (6.2–8.0 µm) in width. Two equal, pyriform polar capsules measured 4.40 ± 0.34 µm (3.7–4.8 µm) in length and 2.58 ± 0.17 µm (2.3–2.9 µm) in width, each possessing polar tubules with 4–6 turns. Phylogenetic analysis, based on small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) sequences placed the new species within the family Myxobolidae, as a sister to<br> Myxobolus iwagiensis<br> Kawano et al., 2025. Further analysis suggested a possible trend that the clustering of Myxobolidae species may be influenced by the taxonomic affinity of their fish hosts, with closely-related parasites tending to infect hosts within the same order. Host aquatic habitat (marine, brackish-water or freshwater) and species geographic distribution may also contribute to the observed clustering patterns.<br>