A GUIDELINE FOR THE PREPARATION OF SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS IN THE EIMERIIDAE

Members of the suborder Eimeriina (phylum Apicomplexa: class Sporozoea : order Eucoccidiorida) have complex 1 or 2 host life cycles that invo lve endogenous development in the tissues of vertebrates or invertebra tes and exogenous development in an oocyst, usually outside the host(s ). Because tissue stages are logistically difficult or even impossible to obtain in natural (wild) host-parasite systems, the vast majority (>98%) of species in this parasite complex are known only from the str ucture of their sporulated oocyst. Unfortunately, the quality of these species descriptions is uneven because no guidelines are available fo r workers in the field to follow. Here we propose a specific set of gu idelines for the preparation of species descriptions of coccidia based predominently on the structure of the sporulated oocyst, because the oocyst is the most readily available stage in the life cycle. In addit ion, we emphasize that ancillary data be incorporated whenever possibl e with the species description; these data may include, but are not li mited to, ecological parameters, prevalence, seasonal data, and the de position of both host symbiotypes and parasite hepantotypes (=phototyp es) into accredited museums so that accurate identification of both ho st and parasite material can be assured in perpetuity. And finally, if oocysts are collected in pure suspension, that is, if only one coccid ian species (morphotype) is present in the sample, then some oocysts s hould be saved in 70% ethanol and archived in an accredited museum in the event that future workers might wish to amplify and, later, sequen ce the parasite's DNA.