Re-establishment of the family Coccomyxidae and description of five novel species ofAuerbachiaandCoccomyxa(Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) parasites from Australian fishes

Abstract

SUMMARYFive novel species,Auerbachia scomberoidin. sp.,Auerbachia chaetodonin. sp.,Auerbachia caranxin. sp.,Coccomyxa colurodontidisn. sp. andCoccomyxa gobiodonin. sp. are described from the gall bladders of marine teleosts. These species descriptions provide the first record ofAuerbachiafrom Australian waters. Each species is characterized morphologically, including additional measurements forAuerbachiaspp. and small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences were determined for molecular phylogenetic analyses. All 5 species were each recovered from a single (and different) species of host. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a close genetic relatedness between members ofAuerbachiaandCoccomyxa. Based on these phylogenetic data, on obvious paraphyly displayed by the Myxidiidae and on priority, we propose the re-establishment of the family Coccomyxidae to house all species of the genera,Coccomyxa,AuerbachiaandGlobospora.