Coccidian Parasites of Intertidal Fishes from Wales: Systematics, Development, and Cytochemistry

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Abstract
Examination of the littoral fishes, Blennius pholis and Cottus bubalis, caught at Aberystwyth and Porth Cwyfan, Wales, United Kingdom, revealed 2 spp. of coccidia. Eimeria dingleyi sp. nov. has spherical (16.1-19.2 .mu.m) to subspherical (13.9-14.2 .times. 18.8-20.0 .mu.m) oocysts with thin walls; sporulation outside the host to produce ellipsoid sporocysts; and endogenous phases in epithelial cells throughout the intestine; of 58 B. pholis examined, 26 were infected. E. variabilis (Thelohan) Reichenow has spherical (11.9-14.6 .mu.m) to subspherical (9.2-10.9 .times. 13.9-14.3 .mu.m) oocysts; sporulation in the lining of the pyloric ceca and rectum; and previously unrecorded schizonts and gametocytes present. Of 25 C. bubalis examined, 21 were infected. Electron microscopy revealed that the oocyst wall of E. variabilis consists of a thin membrane where the sporocyst wall is thick and 3-layered. Typical oocyst wall-forming bodies were absent from the macrogamete. Cytochemical tests on the endogenous stages of E. dingleyi and E. variabilis indicated that in general they resembled other coccidia in their chemical constitution.