New Japanese Record of Henneguya postexilis (Cnidaria: Myxobolidae) from Gills of Alien Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) in Japan

Abstract

Henneguya postexilis Minchew, 1977 (Cnidaria: Myxobolidae) is described as a novel record for Japan. It was found in the gills of non-native Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque, 1818) (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae), which were collected from the Omoi River, a tributary of the Tone River system in Tochigi Prefecture, central Honshu. This myxozoan species is native to North America and its discovery from Japan in this study is the second case reported from a non-native region. Until now, H. postexilis has only been observed in I. punctatus, suggesting that it is an introduced alien species in Japan, likely accompanying its host.

Keywords

• myxozoa
• alien species
• new country record
• molecular identification