Eimeria caviae
| Eimeria caviae | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Eimeria caviae | ||||||||||||
| ( Sheather , 1924) |
Eimeria caviae is a unicellular parasite of the intestine in guinea pigs belonging to the coccidia group . The pathogen mainly colonizes the colon and is the only coccidia known in guinea pigs. It causes coccidiosis . This disease occurs worldwide and plays a role especially in larger positions.
Features and development
The oocysts of E. caviae are oval and 17-25 microns × 13-18 microns in size. They have a delicate brown wall without membrane pores ( micropyle ). Sporocysts are 11–13 µm × 6–7 µm in size and contain two sporozoites .
The sporulation lasts between two and eleven days, depending on the temperature. The sporozoites penetrate the intestinal mucosa and multiply through schizogony after about a week . Schizonts are about 6–10 µm in size and produce up to 32 sickle-shaped, 6 to 16 µm long merozoites . The microgamonts have a diameter of 13 to 18 µm and contain about 100 curved, 3 µm long microgametes with two 6 to 9 µm long flagella . Macrogamets are on average 11.3 µm × 13.5 µm in size.
literature
- Joseph E. Wagner: The Biology of the Guinea Pig . Academic Press, 2014, ISBN 9781483289328 , pp. 174-175.
