The coccidian genus Wenyonella

The genus Wenyonella Hoare, 1933 is characterized by oocysts with four sporocysts, each sporocyst possessing four sporozoites. Based on the descriptions, photomicrographs, and line drawings, it appears that virtually all species represent erroneous descriptions of eimerians. None of the descriptions are adequate, and many of the species appear to be named from degenerate oocysts. In most cases, the posterior refractile bodies were misidentified as a second pair of sporozoites. In other cases, the sporozoites appear to be so long as to be relexed back along a portion of the length of the sporocyst a second time confusing the authors. Thus, all of the coccidia listed below should be viewed dubiously and considered species inquiriendae.

1. Wenyonella africana Hoare, 1933
   1. Host: Boeodon linatus (Serpentes)
   2. Reference: Hoare 1933
   3. Remarks: The line drawing suggests that the sporozoites may have been so long as to be relexed back along a portion of the length of the sporocyst a second time giving the false impression of 4 sporozoites within the sporocyst.

2. Wenyonella ameivae Arcay de Peraza and Bastardo de San Jose, 1970
   1. Host: Ameiva ameiva (Sauria)
   2. Reference: Arcay de Peraza and Bastardo de San Jose 1970
   3. Remarks: The photomicrograph suggests that the refractile bodies were confused with sporozoites.

3. Wenyonella anatis Pande, Bhatia and Srivastava, 1965
   1. Host: Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard - Anseriformes)
   2. References: Gajadhar et al. 1983; Pande et al. 1965; Zuo et al. 1990
   3. Remarks: The sporozoites appear to be degenerate in the line drawings. It is likely that the refractile bodies were being confused with the sporozoites.

4. Wenyonella arcayae Bastardo de San Jose, 1974
   1. Host: Tropidurus hispidus (Sauria)
   2. Reference: Bastardo de San Jose 1974
   3. Remarks: The photomicrograph suggests that the refractile bodies were confused with sporozoites.

5. Wenyonella baghdadensis Mirza and Al-Rawas, 1978
   1. Synonym: Wenyonella sp. of Mirza and Al-Rawas, 1978
   2. Host: Nesokia indica (Rodentia)
   3. Reference: Mirza 1975; Mirza and Al-Rawas 1978a, 1978b; Yakimoff et al. 1945
   4. Remarks: It is obvious from the line drawing that the large, posterior refractile bodies are being confused with a second set of sporozoites. This may or may not represent the unsporulated coccidian noted by Yakimoff et al. (1945) in the same host, and most likely represents improperly sporulated Eimeria nesokiai Mirza, 1975.

6. Wenyonella bahli Misra, 1944
   1. Host: Coturnix coturnix (syn. Coturnix communis) (European quail - Galliformes)
   2. References: Misra 1944; Svanbaev and Utebaeva 1973
   3. Remarks: It is likely that the oocysts represented by this coccidian are degenerate oocysts of Eimeria tsunodai Tsutsumi, 1972 and that the refractile bodies are being confused for sporozoites.

7. Wenyonella columbae Haldar and Ray-Choudhury, 1974
   1. Host: Columba livia (Columbiformes)
   2. Reference: Haldar and Ray-Choudhury 1974
   3. Remarks: The line drawing suggests that the sporozoites are large enough to double back along themselves within the sporocyst, thus appearing as another set of sporozoites. It is likely that this coccidian represents either Eimeria columbarum Nieschulz, 1935 or Eimeria labbeana (Labbe, 1896) Pinto, 1928.

8. Wenyonella gagari Sarkar and Ray, 1968
   1. Host: Anas playrhynchos (syn. Anas boschus) (Mallard - Anseriformes)
   2. Reference: Gajadhar et al. 1983; Sarkar and Ray 1968
   3. Remarks: This coccidian has no line drawing or photomicrograph. The description mentions the oocysts to have a "pitcher-like" appearence and, thus, may represent one the renal eimerians with the same structure. The measurements provided by Gajadhar et al. (1983) are erroneous.

9. Wenyonella gallinae Ray, 1945
   1. Host: Gallus gallus (Red junglefowl - Galliformes)
   2. Reference: Ray 1945
   3. Remarks: It is likely that Ray (1945) confused refractile bodies with additional sporozoites and that the coccidian he actually saw was Eimeria maxima Tyzzer, 1929.

10. Wenyonella hoarei Ray and das Gupta, 1937
    1. Synonym: Wenyonella sp. of Ray and das Gupta, 1935
    2. Host: Sciurus sp. (Rodentia)
    3. Reference: Ray and Das Gupta 1935, 1937
    4. Remarks: The line drawings suggests that the sporozoites are long and double back along themselves within the sporocyst, thus appearing as another set of sporozoites. Refractile bodies may also have been confused with sporozoites.

11. Wenyonella levinei Bandyopadhyay, Ray, and Das Gupta, 1986
    1. Host: Rattus rattus (Rodentia)
    2. Reference: Bandyopadhyay, Ray, and Das Gupta 1986
    3. Remarks: The line drawing suggests either that the coccidian had not sporulated properly, or that the refractile bodies were being confused with sporozoites.

12. Wenyonella mackinnonae Misra, 1947
    1. Host: Motacilla alba (Passeriformes)
    2. Reference: Levine 1985; Mandal 1970; Misra 1947
    3. Remarks: It is likely that the author confused posterior refractile bodies with additional sporozoites.

13. Wenyonella maligna Arcay, 1981
    1. Host: Sciurus granatensis (Rodentia)
    2. Reference: Arcay 1981
    3. Remarks: The photomicrograph suggests that the refractile bodies were confused with sporozoites.

14. Wenyonella markovi Grobov and Wen'Schun, 1963
    1. Host: Capreolus capreolus (Artiodactyla)
    2. Reference: Grobov and Wen'Schun 1963
    3. Remarks: This coccidian appears to be Eimeria bukidnonensis Tubangui, 1931 or perhaps Eimeria pellita Supperer, 1952. It is likely that the refractile bodies were confused with sporozoites.

15. Wenyonella parva van den Berghe, 1938
    1. Host: Paraxerus boehmi (syn. Paraxerus emini; syn. Tamiscus emini) (Boehm's bush squirrel - Rodentia)
    2. Reference: van den Berghe 1938
    3. Remarks: The author has drawn four unusually stubby sporozoites within each sporocysts, suggesting that the sporozoites and refractile bodies are being confused.

16. Wenyonella pellerdyi Bhatia and Pande, 1966
    1. Host: Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard - Anseriformes), Anas querquedula (Garganey teal - Anseriformes)
    2. Reference: Bhatia and Pande 1966; Gajadhar et al. 1983
    3. Remarks: We are not fully convinced that each sporozoite only has a single refractile body. It is likely that each sporozoite possesses two refractile bodies and that one set of refractile bodies was being confused for a second set of sporozoites.

17. Wenyonella philiplevinei Leibovitz, 1968
    1. Host: Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard - Anseriformes)
    2. Reference: Fan and Di 1989; Gajadhar et al. 1983; Leibovitz 1968; Lin et al. 1989; Yin et al. 1989; Zuo et al. 1990
    3. Remarks: Both the line drawing and photomicrograph suggests that the refractile bodies and/or sporozoites were all being confused.

18. Wenyonella uelensis van den Berghe, 1938
    1. Host: Funisciurus anerythrus (Thomas' tree squirrel - Rodentia)
    2. Reference: van den Berghe 1938
    3. Remarks: The author has drawn four unusually stubby sporozoites within each sporocysts, suggesting that the sporozoites and refractile bodies are being confused.

References

Arcay, L. 1981. Nuevos coccidia de roedores silvestres de Venezuela: Eimeria guerlingueti sp. nov. y Wenyonella maligna sp. nov. de Sciurus (Guerlinguetus) granatensis y Eimeria akodoni sp. nov., de Akodon urichi venezuelensis. Acta Biologica Venezuelica 11: 125-148.

Arcay de Peraza, L. and Bastardo de san Jose, 1970. Nuevos coccidia de lagartos: Wenyonella ameivae sp. nov. y Eimeria subcylindrica sp. nov. (Coccidia, Eimeriidae), parasitos de Ameiva ameiva de Venezuela. Acta IV Congreso Latinoamericana de Zoologia, Caracas, 1: 265-275.

Bandyopadhyay, S., Ray, R., and Das Gupta, B. 1986. A new coccidium, Wenyonella levinei n. sp. from a common house rat, Rattus rattus arboreus (Horsfield). Archiv fur Protistenkunde 131: 303-307.

Bastardo de San Jose, T. 1974. Descripcion y ciclo evolutivo de dos nuevos coccidia de Tropidurus hispidus de Venezuela: Wenyonella arcayae sp. n. y Eimeria hispidi sp. n. con discusion de la clasificacion de los eimeriidae y nueva diagnosis para el genero Wenyonella Hoare, 1933. Acta Biologica Venezuelica 8: 567-578.

Bhatia, B.B. and Pande, B.P. 1966. On two new species of coccidia from wild Anatidae. Acta Veterinaria Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16: 335-340.

Fan, G. and Di, B. 1989. Observations on pathomorphology of experimental coccidiosis in ducklings. In: Waterfowl Production, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Waterfowl Production, The Satellite Conference for the XVIII World's Poultry Congress, September 11-18, 1988, Beijing, China. China Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, editors. International Academic Publishers and Permamon Press, Beijing. pp. 407-408.

Gajadhar, A.A., Wobeser, G., and Stockdale, P.H.G. 1983. Coccidia of domestic and wild waterfowl (Anseriformes). Canadian Journal of Zoology 61: 1-24.

Grobov, O.F. and Wen-Schun, Lu. 1963. On a new species of coccidian (Wenyonella markovi n. sp.) from the Siberian goat (Capreolus pygargus Pallas). Trudy Vsesoyuanogo Instituta Eksperimenta nor Veterinarii. 28: 342-348.

Haldar, D.P. and Ray-Choudhury, S. 1974. Observations on Wenyonella columbae new species, from the domestic pigeon. Archiv fur Protistenkunde 116: 251-253.

Hoare, C.A. 1933. Studies on some new ophidian and avian coccidia from Uganda, with a revision of the classification of the Eimeriidea. Parasitology 25: 359-388.

Leibovitz, L. 1968. Wenyonella philiplevinei, n. sp., a coccidial organism of the white pekin duck. Avian Diseases 12: 670-681.

Levine, N.D. 1985. Erhardorina n. g., Ascogregarina polynesiensis n. sp., Eimeria golemanskii n. sp., Isospora tamariscini n. sp., Gregarina kazumii n. nom., new combinations and emendations in the names of apicomplexan protozoa. Journal of Protozoology 32: 359- 363.

Lin, K., Jiang, J., Kong, F., and Yin, P. 1989. Preventive measure against coccidiosis of Pekin duck and its economy benefit. In: Waterfowl Production, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Waterfowl Production, The Satellite Conference for the XVIII World's Poultry Congress, September 11-18, 1988, Beijing, China. China Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, editors. International Academic Publishers and Permamon Press, Beijing. p. 411.

Mandal, A.K. 1970. Studies on some aspects of avian coccidia (Protozoa, Sporozoa). Part IV. Occurrence and distribution of coccidian parasites in Indian birds. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 63: 23-39.

Misra, P.L. 1944. On a new coccidian Wenyonella bahli, n. sp. from the common grey quail, Coturnix communis Bonn. Proceedings of the National Institute of Sciences of India, Calcutta 10: 203-204.

Misra, P.L. 1947. On three coccidian parasites Wenyonella mackinnoni n. sp., Eimeria lucknowensis n. sp., and Isospora sp., from the intestine of the wagtail Motacilla alba Linn. (Passeriformes, Motacillidae). Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences B 25: 75-85.

Mirza, M.Y. 1975. Three new species of coccidia (Sporozoa: Eimeriidae) in mammals from Baghdad. Bulletin of the Natural Research Center, Baghdad. 6: 39-51.

Mirza, M.Y. and Al-Rawas, A.Y. 1978a. Wenyonella sp. from a bandicoot rat Nesokia indica from the Baghdad area. Proceedings of the Asian Congress of Parasitology, Bombay, February 23-26, 1978, (Abstract) pg. 187-188.

Mirza, M.Y. and Al-Rawas, A.Y. 1978b. Wenyonella baghdadensis sp. n. from the bandicoot rat Nesokia indica in the Baghdad area. Journal of Protozoology 25: 285-286.

Pande, B.P., Bhatia, B.B., and Srivastava, K.M.N. 1965. Wenyonella anatis, n. sp. (Protozoa: Eimeriidae) from Indian domestic duck. Science and Culture 31: 383-384.

Rakhmatullina-Batyrshina, N.K. and Svanbaev, S.K. 1972. Infections of wild birds with coccidia. Trudy Instituta Zoology Akademii Nauk Kazakhskoi SSR 33: 5-14.

Ray, H.N. 1945. On a new coccidium Wenyonella gallinae n. sp., from the gut of the domestic fowl, Gallus gallus domesticus Linn. Current Science 14: 275.

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Ray. H. N. and Das Gupta, M. 1937. A new coccidian, Wenyonella hoarei n. sp. from an Indian squirrel. Parasitology 29: 117-120.

Sarkar, A.C. and Ray, H.N. 1968. On a new coccidium, Wenyonella gagari n. sp., from the domestic duck, Anas boschus. Proceedings of the 55th Indian Science Congress 55: 499-500.

Svanbaev, S.K. and Utebaeva, M.K. 1973. Coccidial infections of pheasants and quail in Kazakhstan. Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Kazahkskoi SSR Seriya Biologicheskoya Nauk 6: 62-68.

van den Berghe, L. 1938. Two new coccidia, Wenyonella uelensis n. sp. and Wenyonella parva n. sp., from two Congolese rodents. Parasitology 30: 275-277.

Yakimoff, W.L., Gousseff, W.F., and Suz'ko, S.F. 1945. Coccidia of birds and mammals in Tadzhikistan. Trudy Tadzhikhask. Bazy Akad. Nauk SSSR (=Akademaii Nauk SSSR Tadzh. Filial Akad. Nauk SSSR) 14: 172-183.

Yin, P., Jiang, J., Kong, F., and Lin, K. 1989. Studies on the life cycles of Tyzzeria pernicosa and Wenyonella philiplevinei, two coccidian parasites of Pekin duck, and studies on the pathology, diagnosis and control of coccidiosis they caused. In: Waterfowl Production, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Waterfowl Production, The Satellite Conference for the XVIII World's Poultry Congress, September 11-18, 1988, Beijing, China. China Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, editors. International Academic Publishers and Permamon Press, Beijing. pp. 283-292.

Zuo, Y.X., Song, X.L., Ling, Y.Y., and Tu, Y. 1990. Surveys on the species of coccidia in domestic ducks in Yumman province. Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology, September, No. 9: 13-16.