Bivalvulida is an order of myxosporean parasites which contains a number of species which cause economically significant losses to aquaculture and fisheries, such as Myxobolus cerebralis and Ceratomyxa shasta. The Myxosporean stages of members of the bivalvulida are characterised by their two spore valves (hence the name), which meet in a "suture line" which encircles the spore. They usually contain two polar capsules, but species have been reported which contain either one or four.
Taxonomy and systematics The order Bivalvulida is composed of three suborders and thirteen families. Suborder Platysporina Kudo, 1919Kudo, R. (1919). Studies on Myxosporidia. A synopsis of genera and species of Myxosporidia. Illinois Biological Monographs, 5. Myxobolidae Thélohan, 1892Thélohan, P. (1892). Observation sur les myxosporidies et essai de classification de ces organismes. Bulletin de la Société Philomatique de Paris, 4, 165–178. Suborder Sphaeromyxina Lom & Noble, 1984Lom, J. & Noble, E. R. (1984). Revised classification of the class Myxosporea Bütschli, 1881. Folia Parasitologica, 31, 193–205. Sphaeromyxidae Lom & Noble, 1984 Suborder Variisporina Lom & Noble, 1984 Auerbachiidae Alatasporidae Shulman, Kovaleva & Dubina, 1979Shulman, S. S., Kovaleva, A. A. & Dubina, V. R. (1979). New myxosporidians from fishes of the Atlantic coast of Africa. Parazitologiya, 13, 71–79. Ceratomyxidae Doflein, 1899Doflein, F. (1899). Amerikanische Dekapoden der k. bayerischen Staatssammlungen. Sitzungberichte der mathematisch-physische Klasse der bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 29, 177–195. Chloromyxidae Thélohan, 1892 Coccomyxidae Léger & Hesse, 1907Léger, L. & Hesse, E. (1907). Sur une nouvelle Myxosporidie parasite de la sardine. Compte Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, 145, 85–87. Fabesporidae Naidenova & Zaika, 1969Naidenova, N. N. & Zaika, W. E. (1969). Two new species of Protozoa from the fishes of the Black Sea. Parazitologiya, 3, 97–101. Myxidiidae Thélohan, 1892 Myxobilatidae Shulman, 1953Shulman, S. S. (1953). New and little-studied myxosporids. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 32(3), 384–393. Ortholineidae Lom & Noble, 1984 Parvicapsulidae Shulman, 1953 Sinuolineidae Shulman, 1959Shulman, S. S. (1959). New classification of Myxosporidia. Trudy Karel'skogo Filiala Akademii Nauk SSSR, Parazitologiya, 33–47. Sphaerosporidae Davis, 1917Davis, H. S. (1917). The Myxosporidia of the Beaufort Region. A systematic and biologic study. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, 35, 201–243.
Gallery Drawings and scanning electron microscopy of species of Chloromyxum
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