John W. Fournie, PhD
Coccidia are intracellular parasites belonging to the suborder
Eimeriorina. In fishes these parasites are represented by seven genera: Calyptospora,
Goussia, Eimeria, Epieimeria, Cryptosporidium, Crystallospora, and Octosporella.
Members of these genera include species that have both direct and indirect life cycles, those
that occur in both intestinal and extraintestinal sites, and some that sporulate endogenously as
well as exogenously. Some of these piscine coccidians are also capable of producing severe
histopatholgical changes in infected hosts and pose a potential threat of coccidiosis in fishes
reared under intensive conditions. Examples include Goussia carpelli infections in
cultured carp and gold fish and Calyptospora funduli infections in cultured Gulf
killifish. Current taxonomic classifications, life cycles, associated histopathology, and other
biological parameters will be discussed.