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Balantidium prionurium n. sp., Symbiont in the Intestine of the Surgeonfish, Prionurus punctatus 1
Author(s) -
GRIM J. NORMAN
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1985.tb03082.x
Subject(s) - ciliate , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , zoology , fishery , ecology
During the spring of 1984, the ciliate Balantidium prionurium n. sp. was collected from the intestinal lumen of the herbivorous surgeonfish, Prionurus punctatus , from the Gulf of California. The symbionts were found in five fish from two well separated collection sites. Morphostatic specimens average 51 μm x 42 μm, and thus fall within the size range of several other fish balantidia. But the presence of Balantidium in a saltwater fish has not been reported, and such a host difference alone supports at least provisional recognition of this organism as a new species.