Occurrence of two new species of the genus Dipartiella (Raabe, 1959) Stein 1961 (Ciliophora: Trichodinidae) isolated for the first time from ornamental fish.

During the parasitological survey of ornamental fish in India the authors identified two trichodinid ciliophorans for the first time in India, during the year 2014-16 and also revealed that goldfish, Carassius auratus, was the most susceptible species for trichodinid infection. Two ciliophorans have been isolated and identified on the basis of wet silver nitrate impregnation technique followed by taxonomic description, morphometric variability and comparative data with its closely related species. Considering all the important features including diameter, structure of denticles, rays and ciliatures the authors are of the opinion that the identified species are new to science. Hence, the name Dipartiella indiana n. sp. and Dipartiella carassii n. sp. are being proposed here. Till date, only two species of the genus have been described from the edible fish, but no attention has been paid to ornamental fish. Moreover, The present study confirms the first report of this genus from ornamental fish species and added two more species under the genus Dipartiella (Raabe, 1959) Stein 1961 along with new host, locality and prevalence rates.