SARCOCYSTIS-SEHI SP-N (PROTOZOA, SARCOCYSTIDAE) FROM THE PORCUPINE (ERETHIZON-DORSATUM)

Sarcocysts were found in muscles of tongue, heart, esophagus, diaphragm, and masseter in 10 porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) from Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. The sarcocysts were up to 2.3 mm long and 135-mu-m wide. The sarcocyst wall was 0.3-1.2-mu-m thick, including the projections on the wall. The parasitophorous vacuole membrane of the sarcocyst wall had conical protuberances at irregular distances and short (60 nm) electron-dense blebs. The bradyzoites were approximately 7 x 1.5-mu-m and the micronemes were restricted to the anterior half a the bradyzoites. Only 1 morphologic type of sarcocyst was found in all porcupines and it is named Sarcocystis sehi.