Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. is described from the gut of the aquarium fish Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus. Gamogonic stages develop epicellularly in the gut epithelium. Oocysts are shed in early stage of sporulation. Sporulated oocysts are characterised by having centrally locating oocyst residua. The whole development of the species takes place in the aquarium

Molnár, Kálmán

Székely, Csaba

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C Székely

K Molnár

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Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimenidae) infecting the aquarium-cultured golden gourami Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus

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Vol. 13: 79-81, 1992 I DISEASES OF AQUATIC ORGANISMS Dis. aquat. Org. I Published June 18 NOTE Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) infecting the aquarium-cultured golden gourami Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus Csaba Szekely, Kalman Molnar Veterinary Medical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1143 Budapest, Hunghria M. 21, Hungary ABSTRACT. Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. is described from the gut of the aquarium fish Trichogaster tn'chopterus trichop- terus. Gamogonic stages develop epicellularly in the gut epithelium. Oocysts are shed in early stage of sporulation. Sporulated oocysts are characterised by having centrally locating oocyst residua. The whole development of the species takes place in the aquarium. Few data are available on coccidian infections in aquarium fishes. Cheung et al. (1986) reported Calyp- tospora serrasalmi infections in Serrasalmus niger kept in aquaria; however, this infection was established before introduction of the fish to the aquarium. Coc- cidium-infected farm fishes, when transferred to aquaria for experimental purposes, recovered from the infection within 2 to 4 wk and no new cycle of infection started (Musselius et al. 1963, Molnar 1976, 1979). No data have yet been published on coccidian infections of tropical ornamental fish bred and grown in aquaria. In the present paper we are reporting on a coccidian infection in Southeast Asian gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus, grown in aquaria. Coccidia found in this fish are described as a new species: Goussia trichogas teri. Materials and methods. The 1.5 to 2 mo old gourami originated from the stock of a pet-fish breeder in Budapest, Hungary. Forty-five fish of this stock were sent to the laboratory because of weak physical status, loss of apetite and high mortality. Contents and scrap- i n g ~  of the gut were studied under the light microscope at a magnification of x400. When oocysts were found, a piece of mucus containing them was placed in a small Petri dish covered with tap water. The water was changed several times during a 24 h incubation to promote sporulation. Traces of penicillin and strep- tomycin were applied to prevent bacterial growth. Oocysts which sporulated in the Petri dish were then examined in fresh preparations for morphology. L n e  drawings and photos were made. Tissue samples of gut segments from the infected area were fixed in Bouin's fixative, embedded in paraffin-wax, sectioned at  4 pm, and stained with haematoxilin and eosin (H&E) or Giemsa stain. To initiate an experimental infection oocysts from infected gourami were added to tanks containing para- site-free golden gourami. These fish were examined for the presence of coccidian developmental stages and oocysts in the gut at 3 to 4 d intervals for 3 wk. Characteristics of the oocysts were established based on morphology and measurements of 50 oocysts. All measurements are given as mean and range. Results. Pathological investigation of the sick gourami revealed extreme pathology in the gut. The lumen of the intestine was empty or with only scarce contents and the whole intestine was dilated. The red- dened and swollen mucosa of the gut was covered by a copious, transparent mucus which contained great numbers of coccidium oocysts in various states of sporulation. Unsporulated and semisporulated oocysts were also found in mucosal scrapings. Besides coccidia, specimens of Spironucleus elegans (Flagellata) were frequently found in the gut. In 20 "C tap water unsporu- lated oocysts completed sporulation within 24 h. No coccidian infection was found after experimental infec- tion of fish with oocysts. Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. (Fig. 1). Type host: Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus. Locality: Aquarium fish, Hungary. Site o f  infection: Epithelia1 cells of the foregut. Young, unsporulated oocysts (Fig. 2) are ellipsoidal, 10 X 15 pm (9-11.5 X 14-16). They each incorporate a finely granulated sporont of 13.5 X 8.5 pm (13-14 X 8-9). More developed oocysts have a spherical or short O Inter-Research 1992 80 Dis. aquat. Org. 13: 79-81, 1992 smooth, and transparent. Four sporocysts and 2 or 3 compact, amorphous oocyst residual bodies fill the oocyst loosely, with a wide space between the sporo- cysts and oocyst wall. Sporocysts are elliptical, 5.7 pm (4.7-6.7) in length and 4.2 LLm (4.04.9) in width. The sporocyst wall is thin and transparent. Each sporocyst contains 2 vermiform sporozoites with one end sometimes reflexed and arranged head to tail. A residual body is absent. The wall of the sporocyst is composed of 2 equal halves connected by a suture along the longitudinal axis. Sporozoites are often freed into the oocyst lumen after the suture of the sporocyst shell opens. Free, banana- shape sporozoites are 7.1 +m (5.5-8.3) in length and 1.8 pm (1.6-2.4) in wldth. The apical part of the sporozoite is of darker color with the nucleus located close to the blunt end. In histological preparations, macrogamonts and trophozoltes were located epicell~ilarly in the epithelia1 cells, covered only by a smooth laver of cell membrane Fig 1 Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. Line drawing of sporulated (Fig. 3). Most of them were found at the bottom of the oocysts. Scale bar,  5 pm mucosal folds of the mid-gut. In diseased fish the dominant sign of disease was inflammation of the gut. Discussion. No coccidian infection of anabantid fishes has previously been recorded. Coccidia mor- ellipsoidal shape with an average size of 13 to 15 pm. In phologically similar to Goussia trichogasteri have been the latter oocysts the sporont is round, ca 9 pm in found only in systematically distant fishes. Most of the diameter, and has a large space between the oocyst known Goussia species in other fishes are charac- wall and the sporont. The sporont forms 4 sporoblasts terized by sporocysts completely filling the space of the and 3 or 2 compact sporocyst residua resembling polar oocyst. Only a few coccidia, such as G. clupearum, G. granula but centrally positioned in the oocyst. lomi and the Goussia sp. described by Molnar & Rohde Sporulated oocysts (Fig. 2a) are spherical, and (1988), have sporocysts filling the oocysts loosely. Of 18.3 pm (14-24) in diameter. The cyst wall is thin, these, G. clupearum inhabits the liver of clupeid fishes Fig. 2. Goussia trichogasteri. Sernisporu- lated oocysts. x 1500. (2a). Sporulated oocyst. X 1500 Szekely & Molnar: Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. 8 1 Fig. 3. Goussia trichogasteri. Epicellular- ly located developing oocysts in the mid- gut of Trichogaster trichopterus trichop- terus. H&E-stained histological section. x250 and its sporocysts are much larger than those of G. trichogasteri. G. lomi differs from G. trichogasteri by having a large oocyst residuum while the Goussia sp. (Molnar & Rohde 1988) which most resembles G. trichogasteri has ellipsoidal oocysts and no oocyst re- sidua. Coccidian infection of fish species bred in aquaria has long been expected to occur. The only recorded infections of any aquarium-cultured fish were of the goldfish (Hoffman 1965, Romero-Rodriguez 1978, Kent & Hedrick 1985). Aquarium-cultured goldfish can become infected through vector food organisms, which may transmit coccidia from goldfish Carassius auratus auratus cultured in ponds and from gibe1 carp Caras- sius auratus gibe110 living in natural waters. Infection in this way by Goussia carpel11 has been observed in goldfish by Kent & Hedrick (1985) and Szekely unpubl.). Absence of coccidioses in aquarium fishes could be explained by the need for vectors. However, experi- ments by Paterson & Desser (1982), Landsberg & Paperna (1985) and Steinhagen & Korting (1988) indi- cated that coccidian infection can also occur through feeding on oocysts. In our case the above-mentioned way of infection seems to be probable, producing a coccidian infection that developed in the aquarium without any possible contact through vector organisms with hosts in outdoor water. It is suspected that the fish did not die from the coccidian infection alone. Other parasites, like Spironucleus, and bacteria may have contributed to the pathological process. Responsible Subject Editor: W. Korting, Hannover, Germany LITERATURE CITED Cheung, P. J . ,  Nigrelli, R. F., Ruggieri, D. (1986). Calyptospora serrasalmi sp. nov. (Coccidia: Calyptosporidae) from liver of the black piranha, Serrasalmus niger Schomburgk. J .  Aquaricult. Aquat. Sci. 4: 54-57 Hoffman, G.  L. (1965). Eimeria aurati n. sp. (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) from goldfish (Carassius auratus) in North America. J Protozool. 12: 273-275 Kent, M. L., Hedrick, R. P. (1985). The biology and associated pathology of Goussia carpelli (Leger and Stankovitch) in goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus). Fish Pathol. 20: 485-494 Landsberg, J. H., Paperna, I. (1985). Goussia cichlidarum n. sp. (Barrouxiidae, Apicomplexa), a coccidian parasite in the swimbladder of cichlid fish. Z Parasitenkd. 71: 199-212 Molnar, K. (1976). Histological study of coccidiosis caused in the silver carp and the bighead by Eimeria sinensis Chen, 1956. Acta Vet. Acad. Sci. Hung. 26: 303-312 Molnar, K. (1979). Studies on coccidia of Hungarian pond fishes. Proceedings of the International Symposium 'Coc- cidia and further prospects of their control', Nov. 28-30, 1979, Prague, p. 179-183 Molnar, K., Rohde, K. (1988). New coccidians from freshwater fishes of Australia. J. Fish Dis. 11. 161-169 Musselius, V. A., Ivanova, I. C.. Laptev, V. I. (1963). On the coccidiosis of carp. Tr. Vses. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Prud. Rybn. Khoz. XII: 163-196 (in Russian) Paterson, W B., Desser, S. S. (1982). The biology of two Eimeria species (Protista: Apicomplexa) in their mutual fish hosts in Ontario. Can. J. Zool. 60: 764-775 Romero-Rodriguez, J. (1978). Coccidiopatias de  peces, estudio del Protozoa Eimeriidae: Eimeria carassiusaurati, n. sp. Rev. Iber. Parasitol. 38: 775-781 Steinhagen. D., Korting, W. (1988). Experimental transmission of Goussla carpelli (Leger & Stankovitch, 1921, Protista: Apicomplexa) to common carp, Cyprinus carpio. Bull. Eur Ass. Fish Pathol. 8: 112-113 Manuscript received: January 10, 1992 Revised version accepted: March 30, 1992 

a coccidian parasite in the swimbladder of cichlid fish.

Calyptospora serrasalmi sp. nov. (Coccidia: Calyptosporidae) from liver of the black piranha, Serrasalmus niger Schomburgk.

Eimeria aurati n. sp. (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) from goldfish (Carassius auratus) in North America.

Experimental transmission of Goussla carpelli (Leger & Stankovitch,

The biology of two Eimeria species (Protista: Apicomplexa) in their mutual fish hosts in Ontario.

Goussia trichogasteri n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimenidae) infecting the aquarium-cultured golden gourami Trichogaster trichopterus trichopterus

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