Morphological and molecular characterization of Henneguya chirodactyli n. sp. (Cnidaria: Myxosporea), a parasite of the Peruvian morwong Chirodactylus variegatus (Valenciennes, 1833) (Centrarchiformes: Latridae)

A new species of Henneguya Thélohan, 1892 (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida: Myxobolidae) infecting the internal region of the stomach of the Peruvian morwong Chirodactylus variegatus (Valenciennes, 1833) (Centrarchiformes: Latridae), an economically important fish in Peruvian artisanal fishery, is described. Morphologically, Henneguya chirodactyli n. sp. differs from all its congeners due to the combination of myxospore dimensions, polar filament coil count, and an external envelope in the spore body. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rRNA gene sequences places this new species as sister to H. lagunensis de Azevedo, Negrelli, de Oliveira, Abdallah, Camara, Matos and Vieira, 2021. Furthermore, this species is located in a clade composed of 12 species of Henneguya and one of Myxobolus Bütschli, 1882, all of which infect marine fish. We emphasize that this is the first study performed with an integrative approach, including morphological (external), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and molecular descriptions, of a Henneguya species from a Peruvian marine environment.