A new genus and species, Avitocaligus assurgericola gen. et sp. n., of the family Caligidae is established based on an ovigerous female collected from a razorback scabbardfish, Assurger anzac (Alexander), caught off New Caledonia. This is the first record of any parasitic copepod from this fish. The new genus is placed in the Caligidae since it possesses the caligid cephalothorax incorporating the first to third pedigerous somites. It also exhibits biramous first and fourth swimming legs but lacks dorsal plates on the fourth pedigerous somite. This combination of characters serves to differentiate the new genus from existing genera. In addition, it possesses loosely coiled, uniseriate egg sacs, concealed between the middle lamellar plates on the genital complex and the ventral plates on the abdomen. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis with a restricted matrix suggests that the new genus represents the earliest offshoot from the main caligid lineage since it does not exhibit the dominant exopod on the fourth swimming leg found in all other members of the Caligidae, including the genus Euryphorus. It strongly supports the newly recognized monophyletic status of the Caligidae, incorporating the genera formerly placed in the Euryphoridae.
A new genus, Alanlewisia, of the family Caligidae is established to accommodate a sea louse species originally, but tentatively, placed in the genus Lepeophtheirus by Lewis (1967). The type species is Alanlewisia fallolunulus (Lewis, 1967) comb. n., which is redescribed in detail based on new material collected from bluespine unicornfish, Naso unicornis (Forsskål), caught off New Caledonia in the South Pacific. This species was originally described by Lewis (1967) under the binomen Lepeophtheirus? fallolunulus from the same host species collected in Hawaii. This species was subsequently transferred to the genus Anuretes by Ho and Lin (2000). Lewis was uncertain of the generic placement primarily because of the possession, in the females only, of paired lunule-like structures on the ventral surface of the modified frontal plates. In both sexes the first swimming leg is biramous, with a well-developed endopod bearing 2 long, sparsely-plumose setae, and the third leg has a 2-segmented exopod. This combination of characters serves to differentiate the new genus from existing genera. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis suggests that the new genus represents an early offshoot from the main caligid lineage, basal to the Paralebion-Tuxophorus-Caligus clade identified by Boxshall and Justine (2005).
Caligus mortis Kensley, 1970 was originally described from females collected from intertidal pools along the coast of Namibia. During surveys at Jeffreys Bay and De Hoop Nature Reserve in South Africa, both females and males of C. mortis were collected from intertidal pool fish hosts. Based on this material a full description of the male is given, and a comparison with the female reveals the sexual dimorphic characteristics.
A new species of caligid copepod, Lepeophtheirus simplex sp. n., parasitic on bullseye puffer, Sphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns) in Sinaloa, Mexico is described. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the possession of (1) a maxillule with simple dentiform process; (2) a sternal furca with sharply pointed, curved tines; (3) a 2-segmented exopod of leg 3 with simple, slender spine on proximal segment; (4) a 3-segmented exopod of leg 4 with a long proximal, outer spine; and (5) the terminal claw of male antenna with a large, tridentate, medial protuberance.
In the present study, we determine the presence of parasites in fish larvae collected from nearshore waters along the northern and central coast of Chile. The parasites were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level based on morphological and molecular analyses. The fish sample was composed of 5 574 fish larvae. Of these, 3% harboured only larval ectoparasitic copepods whereas no endoparasites were found in the 1 141 fish evaluated for this group of parasites. The parasitic copepods collected were initially classified as 'morphotypes' according to differences in morphological characteristics. They were then analysed using molecular techniques based on the 28S and COI genes. Seven morphotypes of parasitic copepods (mostly at chalimus stages) were recognised: two of the morphotypes belonged to Pennellidae Burmeister, 1835, three to Caligidae Burmeister, 1835 and two were not identified. Only five morphotypes of copepods were analysed using molecular sequences, which confirmed the existence of six species: two pennellids of the genus Trifur Wilson, 1917 and two caligids of the genus Caligus Müller, 1785, plus two additional species that were morphologically different from these taxa. The pennellids were present in several fish species, being generally more prevalent than the caligids, in both the central and northern localities of Chile. Multispecies infections in larval fish were infrequent (< 1%). We conclude that fish larvae were rich in parasites, considering that these hosts exhibited small body sizes and were very young. We suggest that fish larvae could play a role, as intermediate hosts, in the life cycle of the parasitic copepods found., Gabriela Muñoz, Mauricio F. Landaeta, Pamela Palacios-Fuentes, Zambra López, María Teresa González., and Obsahuje bibliografii