Morphological And Molecular Characteristics Of Kudoa Viseuensis N. Sp. (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida), Found In The Muscle Of Batrachoides Surinamensis (Teleostei: Batrachoididae) In The Brazilian Amazon Region

A new species of myxozoan, Kudoa viseuensis n. sp. (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida), is described based on specimens extracted from the musculature of the Pacuma toadfish, Batrachoides surinamensis, collected in the municipality of Viseu, in the northern Brazilian state of Para. A total of 60 specimens of B. surinamensis were examined, of which 52 (86%) presented whitish pseudocysts containing numerous rounded spores (7.2 +/- 0.2 mu m in length and 5.2 +/- 0.2 mu m in width). These spores have four polar capsules of equal size, measuring 1.8 +/- 0.2 mu m x 1.3 +/- 0.1 mu m in the apical view, and 2.7 +/- 0.2 mu m x 1.3 +/- 0.1 mu m in the lateral view. A partial sequence (1400 bps) of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene was obtained and deposited in GenBank (access number: MK256272). The comparison of the morphological and molecular data with those of other Kudoa species supported the description of a new species of mixosporean from the Amazon region, which is denominated here as Kudoa viseuensis n. sp.