A NEW EIMERIAN SPECIES (APICOMPLEXA: EIMERIIDAE) FROM THE BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON PARROT AMAZONA AESTIVA L. (AVES: PSITTACIDAE) IN BRAZIL

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)The Neotropical psittacine species Amazona aestiva, commonly known as the blue-fronted Amazon, is one of the most common and best-known psittacine birds kept as a pet worldwide. However, very little is known about the diseases or parasites of these birds. In this study, we describe a new species, Eimeria aestivae, associated with these parrots. The new species is characterized by: ovoid smooth oocysts (n = 60), 36.8 (33.2-41.5) x 23.7 (21.7-25.7) mu m, length/width ratio = 1.55; polar granule present; ellipsoidal sporocysts (n = 25), 19.8 (17.5-21.6) X 9.3 (8.3-9.9) mu m; Stieda, sub-Stieda body, and sporocyst residuum present. Sporozoites (n = 20), 2 per sporocyst, elongate and curved, 17.6 (15.8-19.2) X 3.8 (3.2-4.8) mu m; each with 2 refractile bodies. The oocysts of the other 2 eimerian species described for Amazona are larger than those of the presented species, but they all seem to be closely related because of some similarities among them.97611401141Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES