Eimeria varia Upton, Campbell, Weigel & McKown, 1990 is a Junior Synonym of Eimeria megabubonis Upton, Campbell, Weigel & McKown, 1990.

AIM

The present work aims to morphologically and molecularly characterize an Eimeria sp. recovered from an adult, captive barred owl Strix varia in Mississippi, USA. While the owl was shedding oocysts, no clinical signs of coccidiosis were observed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Oocysts collected from a barred owl, S. varia were isolated from feces by fecal flotation and characterized by light microscopy. The oocysts were allowed to sporulate in KCrO for 7 days and measured for comparison with previously described Eimeria species. Genomic DNA was extracted from measured oocysts and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial gene was amplified and sequenced for comparison and phylogenetic analyses with publicly available sequence data.

RESULTS

Oocysts collected from S. varia were morphologically and molecularly consistent with all previous accounts of Eimeria megabubonis from the great horned owl Bubo virginianus and morphologically consistent with the only account of Eimeria varia from S. varia. Phylogenetic analyses grouped the E. megabubonis sequence from the present study with previously reported sequences from E. megabubonis.

CONCLUSION

Morphological and molecular data from oocysts collected in this study reveal S. varia is a host for E. megabubonis. Agreement between current data, morphological and molecular data of E. megabubonis, and morphological data from the original description of E. varia indicates E. varia is a junior synonym of E. megabubonis.