''Garnia'' is a genus of parasitic

alveolates The alveolates (meaning "pitted like a honeycomb") are a group of protists, considered a major clade and superphylum within Eukarya. They are currently grouped with the stramenopiles and Rhizaria among the protists with tubulocristate mitochond ...

belonging to the phylum

Apicomplexia The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. ...

History

The genus was created in 1971 by Lainson et al.Lainson R, Landau I and Shaw J.J. (1971) On a new family of non-pigmented parasites in the blood of reptiles: ''Garniidae'' fam. nov., (Coccidiida: Haemosporidiidea). Some species of the new genus ''Garnia''. Int. J. Parasitol. 1, (3-4) 241-244

Description

Ulike members of the

Plasmodiidae The Plasmodiidae are a family of apicomplexan parasites, including the type genus ''Plasmodium'', which is responsible for malaria. This family was erected in 1903 by Mesnil and is one of the four families in the order Haemospororida. Diagnos ...

and

Haemoproteidae The Haemoproteidae are a family of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa.Euzéby J (1988) Comparative Medical Protozoology, Vol. 3: Apicomplexa, 2: Haemosporidioses, Part 1: Plasmodiids, Haemoproteids, Piroplasms (general characters Th ...

, species in this genus do not produce pigment when developing in the

erythrocyte Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...

s. Species in this genus are distinguished from members of the Leucocytozoidae by their schizogony in the red and white cells of the peripheral

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

. The vectors of this genus are not known but it is suspected that phlebotomine sandflies may act in this regard. The type species is '' Garnia gonatodi''.

Hosts

Species in this genus infect lizards.

Geographic distribution

This genus has been described in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

References

Apicomplexa genera Parasites of lizards Haemosporida {{Apicomplexa-stub