Redescription of Myxobolus paralintoni (Myxosporea:Myxobolidae), with notes regarding new host and locality.

Myxobolus paralintoni Li and Desser, 1985, is redescribed from infected cardiac tissue of redbreast sunfish. Lepomis auritus Linnaeus, from the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mature and developing spores were contained within trophozoites from the collagenous connective tissues of the bulbus arteriosus. Two distinct trophozoites types were found; a thick-walled cyst and a relatively thin-walled "compartmentalized" cyst. Mature spores measure 11.7 13.5 microns in length and 9.0-10.6 microns in width. Polar capsule length and width are 4.5-6.5 microns and 2.7-3.8 microns, respectively, with no intercapsular process present. The sutural ridge had 8-11 triangular folds and the sporoplasm contained a large iodinophilous vacuole. Spores of M. paralintoni are compared with other morphologically similar species of Myxobolus reported from North America.