The Coccidian Genus Pfeifferinella

Compiled by
Donald W. Duszynski1, Steve J. Upton2, and Lee Couch1

1Department of Biology, University of New Mexico
2Division of Biology, Kansas State University

Supported by NSF-PEET DEB 9521687

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Updated: 2 May 1999
Comments: eimeria@unm.edu (Duszynski)
or coccidia@ksu.edu (Upton)


The genus Pfeifferinella Waiselewski, 1904 is characterized by oocysts with no sporocysts, and each sporocyst with 8-more free sporozoites and a large oocyst residuum. A distinct convex micropyle is generally present at one end of the oocyst. Typically, the majority of species have developmental stages (merogony, gamogony, sporogony) within the digestive gland of gastropods, and oocysts are passed in the feces. In some species, the micropyle becomes temporarily extended during formation (Leger & Hollande, 1912), which has led some authors to use the "vaginal tube" as a way of segregating these species into a separate family (Grasse, 1953; Levine, 1973). A morphologically similar coccidian from priapulids, without known developmental extensions of the micropyle, was given the generic designation Alveocystis Bel'tenev, 1980. Levine (1985) separated the genus Pfeifferinella from Alveocystis based on the presence or absence of the vaginal tube, which is rejected here.

Pfeifferinella ellipsoides Waiselewski, 1904

Host: Planorbarius corneus (Gastropoda)
References: Waiselewski 1904

Pfeifferinella gugleri Wacha, 1980

Synonym: Alveocystis gugleri (Wacha, 1980) Levine, 1985
Host: Triodopsis albolabris (Gastropoda)
References: Levine 1985; Wacha 1978, 1980

Pfeifferinella impudica Leger & Hollande, 1912

Host: Triodopsis albolabris (Gastropoda)
References: Leger & Hollande 1912

Pfeifferinella macrocoronata (Luling, 1943) Levine, 1977

Synonym: Alveocystis intestinalis Bel'tenev, 1980
Synonym: Klossia (?) macrocoronata (Luling, 1943) Levine, 1977
Host: Priapulus caudatus, Halicryptus spinulosus (Priapulida)
References: Apel 1885; Bel'tenev 1980; Ehlers 1862a, 1862b; Levine 1977; 1985;
Luling 1940, 1942; McLean 1984; Moltschanov 1908

Pfeifferinella sp. of Fritsche, 1987

Synonym: Pfeifferinella ellipsoides of Fritsche, 1987
Host: Aplexa hypnorum (Gastropoda)
References: Fritsche 1987

Pfeifferinella sp. of Fritsche, 1987

Host: Helisoma trivolvis (Gastropoda)
References: Fritsche 1987

Pfeifferinella sp. of Fritsche, 1987

Synonym: Alveocystis gugleri of Fritsche, 1987
Host: Oxyloma retusa (Gastropoda)
References: Fritsche 1987

Pfeifferinella sp. of Fritsche, 1987

Synonym: Pfeifferinella ellipsoides of Fritsche, 1987
Host: Physa gyrina (Gastropoda)
References: Fritsche 1987

Pfeifferinella sp. of Fritsche, 1987

Synonym: Pfeifferinella ellipsoides of Fritsche, 1987
Host: Stagnicola elodes (Gastropoda)
References: Fritsche 1987

References

Apel, W. 1885. Beitrag zur Anatomie und Histologie des Priapulus caudatus (Lam.) und des Halicryptus spinulosus (v. Sieb.). Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 42: 459-529.

Bel'tenov, A.E. 1980. Alveocystis intestinalis n. sp., n. gen. - a new species of coccidian from the intestine of Priapulida. Voprosy Parasitl Voddnyk Bespozvon. Zhivotnykh (Temat. Sbornik), Vilnyus, USSR 1980:10-11.

Ehlers, E. 1862a. Ueber die Gattund Priapulus Lam. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Gephyreen. Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 11:205-252.

Ehlers, E. 1862b. Ueber Halicryptus spinulosus (v. Sieb.). Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 11:401-415.

Fritsche, T.R. 1987. Studies on the coccidian parasites (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) and Pfeifferinellidae) of pulmonate gastropods. Journal of Protozoology 34:75-78.

Leger, L. and A.C. Hollande. 1912. La reproduction sexuee chez les coccidies monosporees du genere Pfeifferienella. (Note preliminaire). Archives de Zoologie Experimentale et Generale, Notes et Revue 9:1-8.

Levine, N.D. 1977. The adeleid coccidia. Protozoology 3:173-182.

Levine, N.D. 1985. Species of the coccidian genus Alveocystis. Journal of Protozoology 32:368-369.

Luling, K.H. 1940. Uber die Entwicklung des Urogenitalsystems der Priapuliden (Ein Beitrag sur Anatomie und Histologie dieser Tiere.). Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Zoologie 153:136-180.

Luling, K.H. 1943. Uber eine neue Coccidie im Darm der Pripuliden: Priapulus caudatus (Lam.) und Halicryptus spinulosus (v. Sieb.). Archiv fur Protistenkunde 96:39-74.

McLean, N. 1984. Ultrasltructure of a coccidium (Apicomplexa: Sporozoea: Coccidia) in Priapulus caudatus (Priapulida). Journal of Protozoology 31:241-247.

Moltschanov, L.A. 1908. Contribution to the morphology and physiology of the Priapulida. Izvestiya Imperatorsko i Akademii Nauka, Petersburg 6:957-967.

Wacha, R.S. 1978. The taxonomic status of the family Pfeifferinellidae Grasse, 1953 Abstract No. 161. In: Program and Abstracts of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists, November 5-10, 1978, Chicago, Illinois. M.H. Pritchard, editor. p. 79.

Wacha, R.S. 1980. On the taxonomic status of the family Pfeifferinellidae (Coccidia), with a description of Pfeifferinella gugleri sp. n. Journal of Protozoology 27: 368-371.

Wasielewski, T. 1904. Studien und Mikrophotogramme zur Kenntnis der Pathogenen Protozoen. Johann Ambrosius Barth, Leipzig. 118 pp.