A case study of Dermotheca gasterostei (=Dermocystidium gasterostei, Elkan) isolated from three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) captured in lake Vättern, Sweden.

Abstract

During the early summer of 2021 several sticklebacks with massive Dermocystidium infestation were caught in lake Vättern, Sweden. In this brief report we present a histological investigation of the host-parasite relationship, and by 18S rRNA gene sequencing identify the parasite as Dermocystidium gasterostei Elkan, closely related to Dermocystidium percae.