Table 3.

Taxonomic summary of three new Sarcocystis species in sika deer. Comparable data on four other Sarcocystis spp. identified in the present study are also included for comparison.

Species	Sarcocystis japonica n. sp.	Sarcocystis cf. tarandi	Sarcocystis matsuoae n. sp.	Sarcocystis pilosa	Sarcocystis gjerdei n. sp.	Sarcocystis cf. taeniata	Sarcocystis ovalis
Intermediate host	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis (type host)	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis (type host)	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis (type host)	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis	Sika deer, Cervus nippon centralis
cox1 sequence types	Type 1	Type 2	Type 3	Type 4	Type 5	Type 6	Type 7
Definitive hosts	Unknown, but probably felids	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica	Unknown, but probably canids	As for S. pilosa	As for S. pilosa	Corvid birds
Locality	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan	Gifu, Japan
Sarcocyst morphology	Macroscopic or microscopic; 1238.51 × 225.96 μm (363–4000 × 49–620, n = 101); cigar-like sarcocysts in diaphragm; thick thumb-like (Fig. 2a, b) or slender finger-like protrusions (Fig. 2c, d), 5.67 μm (3.20–9.00, n = 101)	Microscopic, 679.29 × 81.21 μm (330.0–1155.0 × 33.00–144.00, n = 31); spindle-shaped sarcocysts in diaphragm; thin finger-like protrusions, 7.92 μm (5.00–10.20, n = 31) (Fig. 2e)	Microscopic, 1115.69 × 112.19 μm (396.0–2970.0 × 66.00–192.00, n = 13); spindle-shaped sarcocysts in diaphragm; thin finger-like protrusions, 6.09 μm (4.27–9.50, n = 13) (Fig. 2f)	Microscopic, 954.45 × 71.29 μm (330–2310.0 × 33.00–144.00, n = 51); spindle-shaped sarcocysts in diaphragm; hair-like protrusions, 7.94 μm (4.67–11.59, n = 46) (Fig. 2g)	Microscopic, 1107.31–89.62 μm (396.0–1840.0 × 49.00–166.00, n = 13); spindle-shaped sarcocysts in diaphragm; hair-like protrusions, 8.48 μm (6.70–13.50, n = 12) (Fig. 2h)	Microscopic, 444.10–71.70 μm (217.00–825.00 × 33.00–148.00, n = 10); spindle-shaped sarcocysts with a smooth or slightly fuzzy surface by LM (Fig. 2i)	Microscopic oval sarcocyst, 825 × 363 μm, in diaphragm; slanting tongue-like protrusions, 6.20 μm, n = 1, (Fig. 2j, k)
Molecular characteristics (GenBank)	LC349445, LC349447, LC349450, LC349452, LC349454, LC349456, LC349458, LC349460, LC349462, LC349464, LC349466, LC481012-LC481017, LC349943, LC349946, LC349948, LC349955, LC349957, LC349958, LC349963, LC349965, LC349968, LC349969, LC349974, LC349975, LC481036-LC481066	LC349468, LC481018-LC481021, LC349960, LC481067-LC481072	LC349471, LC481022-LC481024, LC349971, LC481073-LC481076	LC349474, LC481025-LC481027, LC349942, LC349966, LC481077-LC481081	LC349475-LC349477, LC349479, LC481028-LC481031, LC349938, LC349940, LC349950, LC349952, LC349954, LC481082-LC481086	LC481032, LC481033, LC481087-LC481093	LC481011, LC481034-LC481035
Deposited material	Nucleotide sequences submitted to DDBJ; genomic DNA stored at the Department of Microbiology, Osaka Institute of Public Health	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica	As for S. japonica
Etymology	Named ‘japonica’ to reflect its seemingly wide geographical distribution in Japan		Named in honor of Dr. Kayoko Matsuo for her great contributions concerning the study of Sarcocystis infections in Japan		Named in honor of Prof. Bjørn Gjerde for his great contributions concerning morphological and molecular characterization of numerous Sarcocystis spp. in ruminant intermediate hosts, including the establishment of the cox1 gene as a marker for delimitation of these species