On two little-known microsporidia of marine fishes

Abstract

Parasites of marine fishes have attracted, comparatively speaking, but little attention among scientists. This is true especially for the parasites of those fishes which live in the open seas, and are therefore less accessible to investigation than their relatives inhabiting coastal waters. On many occasions, when chance has brought such a parasite to the attention of a research worker, the scarcity of data allowed no more than mere recording of the existence and a brief description of the parasitic species. Now, when investigations into the parasite fauna of marine fishes are being intensified, it is possible to add to our knowledge of such forgotten species of parasites, in order to appreciate more clearly their possible importance to their hosts and, indirectly, to the economics of the stocks of our food fishes.