Thelohanellus niloticus sp. nov. (Myxozoa: Myxosporea), a parasite of the Nile carp Labeo niloticus from the River Nile, Egypt.

In the present study, the morphology and morphometric characterization of Thelohanellus niloticus sp. nov., a new myxozoan belonging to genus Thelohanellus Kudo, 1933 (Myxosporea, Bivalvulida) infecting the gills of Labeo niloticus (Osteichthyes, Cyprinidae), were described for the first time from the River Nile at El-Minia Governorate, Egypt. Forty-one out of 78 (52.6 %) of the examined fish were infected. The infection was observed as irregular, milky whitish, cyst-like plasmodia (up to 0.8 mm in diameter) attached to the gill filaments of the host fish. These plasmodia contained tear-shaped myxospores with slightly tapering anterior and rounded posterior ends. Each spore has a single pyriform polar capsule. Spores measured about 23.3 ± 0.3 (20.4-27.1) μm long and 13.4 ± 0.4 (11.5-14.2) μm wide. The polar capsule was 11.7 ± 0.3 (9.2-12.5) μm long and 4.7 ± 0.3 (3.5-6.2) μm wide, containing a polar filament coiled perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spore body making eight turns. Occasionally, an oblong, irregular-shaped mass of protoplasm with a slightly oval nucleus (1.4 μm in diameter) and a small iodinophilous vacuole measured 0.85 ± 0.2 μm (0.73-1.2 μm) were observed in the spore. Due to the lack of the second polar capsule characterizing Myxobolus sp., the present parasite is placed within the genus Thelohanellus. Based on morphological differences (compared with other members of Thelohanellus Kudo, 1933) and the host specificity, this species is described as a new one of the genus Thelohanellus recorded for the first time in Egypt.