First record of actinosporean stages of fish myxosporean parasites (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) in Egypt.

In the present study the actinosporean infestation of the oligochaete fauna has been studied. For first time in Egypt, a total of 6 different types of actinospores were isolated from the filtrated water contained oligochaetes Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, Tubifex tubifex, Branchiura sowerbyei and Dero digitata. These new types are classified to hexactinospores and triactinospores. The drawings depicting these actinospore types are constructed and their characteristic dimensions are calculated. The obtained actinospore types are not identical with those described neither in Europe nor in Japan. Throughout the present study it could not decide which actinosporean represent any of species of myxosporean parasites in the given area which required a series of experiments to develop a model for each myxospore-actinospore life cycle.