THELOHANELLUS (MYXOZOA, MYXOSPOREA) INFECTION OF THE SCALES IN THE EUROPEAN WILD CARP CYPRINUS-CARPIO CARPIO

Thelohanellus infection of the scales of the European wild carp Cyprin us carpio carpio L. is reported for the first time in Europe. Comparat ive morphological and histological findings are described. Plasmodia a nd spores found in the fins of cultured common carp fingerlings and th ose detected in the scales of 2- to >4-yr-old European wild carp belon g to the same species. The morphological characteristics of the spores and histological analysis of plasmodial location suggest that the spe cies is identical with Thelohanellus nikolskii Achmerov, 1955. The aut hors regard T. cyprini Hoshina & Hosoda, 1957 and T. callisporis Ky, 1 971 as junior synonyms of T. nikolskii Achmerov, 1955.