Zschokkella are identified as parasitic organisms from the family Myxidiidae of the suborder Variisporina. The genus was first described in 1909 by Max Auerbach.Auerbach, M. (1909) Biologische und morphologische Bemerkungen über Myxosporidien. Zoologischer Anzeiger 35: 57-63 The type species is Zschokkella hildae.
This genus of Myxozoa tend to inhabit common areas of their host and can be found around the globe in both marine to freshwater habitats. Zschokkella also have spore shapes and host specific parasitism that differentiates the genus from other Myxidiidae. Fish are the most common hosts, with most species of Zschokkella living in the gallbladder.
Genus description Zschokkella have features that differentiate it from other genera in Variisporina. One is that the genus seems exclusive to only infecting the host at a family level. It is suggested that due to their widespread nature, Zschokkella may parasitize on different host families based on the region or conditions they live in. Zschokkella are also able to alternate between their hosts given their morphologies. They are identified by their striations and spore size which vary between species.
Zschokkella are coelozoic, meaning they inhabit a part or parts of another organisms body. In this case, most Zschokkella inhabit parts of the excretory system in fish.
About 97 species of Zschokkella have been identified with a few species remaining unclassified.
Reproduction Zschokkella reproduce via sporogenesis. They start their lives as sporoplasms, a group of protoplasts forming the spore, that is then injected into or on the host. From sporoplasms, Zschokkella develop into trophozoites as they feed on the host. In this stage, they can develop to be either diasporic or polysporic. This means that, from the plasmodia, they are able to produce around 2-12 or more mature spores. Spores are released into the waters and latch on to fish, eventually making their way through the excretory system of the host whilst parasitizing from them and developing into new mature spores.
Spore morphology Between species of Zschokkella, there are differences in spore morphologies.
Most spores in their earlier stages are described as ellipsoidal from the sutural viewpoint and semicircular from the valvular viewpoint. Along the ends of the spores are a rounded edge. The valves of the shells are described as either smooth or having ridges, depending on the species. The sutures along the spores can be either straight, sinuous, or curved. In the spores, there are commonly two polar capsules, one on each side of the spore, both in a spherical shape. The sporoplasm which infects the host are binucleate: each cell or protoplast of the sporoplasm contains two nuclei. At maturation, spores can become elongated, spherical, reniform or other shapes depending on species. Other features such as spore size, the number of sutures on a spore, and the shape of the polar capsules also vary between species of Zschokkella.
Common areas of infection Fish are the most common hosts for Zschokkella. The area infected is dependent on the species of Zschokkella parasitizing on the fish. Most species of Zschokkella live in the gallbladder of fish. Some species live in the kidneys or renal tubules of fish while others live in the urinary tract and ureters of fish. Researchers found this as they identified Zschokkella in the urine and bile of fish.
Species
Zschokkella acheilognathi Zschokkella admiranda Zschokkella atlantica Zschokkella auratis Zschokkella australis Zschokkella balistoidi Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 Zschokkella bicarinatis Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 Zschokkella botia Ma, 1998 Zschokkella candia Kalatzis, Kokkari & Katharios, 2015 Zschokkella carassii Nie & Li, 1973 Zschokkella cardinalis Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 Zschokkella cascasiensis Sarkar, 1995 Zschokkella channae Sarkar, 2004 Zschokkella chiliensis Xiao & Feng, 1997 Zschokkella chungshanensis Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella cirrhinae Sarkar, 2004 Zschokkella coelatusae Sarkar, 2010 Zschokkella compressis Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 Zschokkella costata Kashkovski, 1966 Zschokkella ctenopharyngodonis Chen, 1998 Zschokkella cyprini Qadri, 1962 Zschokkella dogieli Pogoreltseva, 1964 Zschokkella donecae Ky, 1971 Zschokkella egyptica Abdel-Baki & Abdel-Ghaffar, 2007 Zschokkella embiotocidis Moser & Haldorson, 1976 Zschokkella epinepheli Bouderbala, Rangel, Santos & Bahri, 2020 Zschokkella flexuosasuturalis Evdokimova, 1977 Zschokkella floridanae Rapacz, Iversen & Feigenbaum, 1973 Zschokkella fossilae Chakravarty, 1943 Zschokkella ganapatii Dorothy & Kalavati, 1995 Zschokkella globulosa Davis, 1917 Zschokkella glossogobii Kalavati & Vaidehi, 1991 Zschokkella gobidiensis Sarkar & Ghosh, 1991 Zschokkella gobii Zhao & Ma, 1994 Zschokkella helmii Abdel-Ghaffar, Ali, Al Quraishy, Entzeroth, Abdel-Baki, Al Farraj & Bashtar, 2007 Zschokkella heronensis Moser, Kent & Dennis, 1989 Zschokkella hildae Auerbach, 1909 Zschokkella labeonis Kumari, 1969 Zschokkella leptatherinae Su & White, 1995 Zschokkella linghuensis Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella lophii Freeman, Yokoyama & Ogawa, 2008 Zschokkella lyssemisi Chakravarty, 1940 Zschokkella macrocapsula Su & White, 1994 Zschokkella macrouri Gaevskaya, Kovaljova & Krasin, 1985 Zschokkella magna Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella mahseni El-Monem, Bayoumy & Hassanain, 2005 Zschokkella meglitschi Moser & Noble, 1977 Zschokkella melanosticti (Kalavati & Narasimhamurti, 1987) Zschokkella menopterusi Zhao & Ma, 1998 Zschokkella microcapsula Moser & Noble, 1977 Zschokkella minuta Nie & Li, 1973 Zschokkella monopterusi Zhao & Ma, 1999 Zschokkella mugili Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella mugilidae Kpatcha, Diebakate & Toguebaye, 1996 Zschokkella mystae Sarkar, 2010 Zschokkella nanhaiensis Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella nilei Abdel-Ghaffar, El-Toukhy, Al-Quraishy, Al-Rasheid, Abdel-Baki, Hegazy & Bashtar, 2008 Zschokkella nova Klokačewa, 1914 Zschokkella ohlalae Heiniger & Adlard, 2014 Zschokkella ophicephali Lalitha Kumari, 1969 Zschokkella ophiocephali Chen & Hsieh, 1973 Zschokkella orientalis Konovalov & Shulman, 1966 Zschokkella ovata (Dunkerly, 1920) Zschokkella oviformis Ma, Dong & Wang, 1982 Zschokkella parasiluri Fujita, 1927 Zschokkella platystomusi Sarkar, 1987 Zschokkella pleomorpha Lom & Dyková, 1995 Zschokkella pseudasciaena Sarkar, 1996 Zschokkella pseudolaubuci Ma, 1998 Zschokkella pulchella Kovaleva & Gaevskaya, 1982 Zschokkella rhinogobides (Nie & Li, 1973) Zschokkella rovignensis Nemeczek, 1922 Zschokkella russelli Tripathi, 1948 Zschokkella salvelini Fantham, Porter & Richardson, 1939 Zschokkella saurogobionis Gong, Lu & Wang, 2003 Zschokkella schizothoraxi Ma & Zhao, 1996 Zschokkella scomberosis Sarkar, 2012 Zschokkella shulmani Gaevskaya, Kovaljova & Krasin, 1985 Zschokkella sichuanensis Zhao & Ma, 1998 Zschokkella sinocylochilusi Ma, 1998 Zschokkella soleae Yemmen, Marton, Bahri & Eszterbauer, 2013 Zschokkella stettinensis Wierzbicka, 1987 Zschokkella striata Shulman, 1962 Zschokkella sturionis Tripathi, 1948 Zschokkella szechwanensis Zhao & Ma, 1999 Zschokkella tetrafluvi Lom & Dyková, 1995 Zschokkella tilapiae Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella trachini Azizi, Rangel, Castro, Santos & Bahri, 2016 Zschokkella tunghuensis Chen & Hsieh, 1984 Zschokkella variabile Kovaleva & Gaevskaya, 1982 Zschokkella yangkiangensis Chen & Hsieh, 1984
References