SARCOCYSTS IN EXOTIC CAPRINAE (BOVIDAE) FROM ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS

Three different forms of sarcocysts from the zoo animals Pseudois naya ur, Capricornis crispus and Ovibos moschatus (Bovidae, Caprinae) were investigated by light and transmission electron microscopy, in special consideration of the cyst wall. Two of these forms were not distingui shable from Sarcocystis capracanis or the pair of sibling species S. h ircicanis/arieticanis by their morphology. They were, therefore, desig nated as S. cf. capracanis (in Pseudois) and S. cf. hircicanis/arietic anis (in Pseudois, Capricornis and Ovibos) in this paper. The third fo rm (from Capricornis) was not identifiable as one of the species hithe rto known. Its cyst wall, provided with stumpy nail-like, in the outli ne T-shaped villar protrusions, could not be attributed to one of the types established by Dubey et al. (1989). It was, therefore, described as Sarcocystis capricornis sp. n. The Sarcocystis species described i n Caprinae so far were discussed.