The sea lice (Copepoda: Caligidae) of Moreton Bay (Queensland, Australia), with descriptions of thirteen new species
Author
Boxshall, Geoff
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-03-19
4398
1
1
172
journal article
30482
10.11646/zootaxa.4398.1.1
e5a58990-d727-440a-aab9-7638a5698954
1175-5326
1202953
79E3EB78-D1C3-45CF-AB13-F8E61C936252
Caligus longipedis
Bassett-Smith, 1898
(
Fig. 35
)
Syn:
Caligus lucidus
Heegaard, 1962
Material
examined.
1♀
from
Gerres
sp.
juveniles (
caught by seine net
from shore at
Adams Beach
,
North Stradbroke Island
) on
26 June 2016
, QM Reg. No. W53080.
Site on host.
Body surface.
Differential diagnosis.
Cephalothorax dorsoventrally flattened with slightly irregular lateral margins (
Fig. 35A
) bearing well-developed marginal membranes; frontal plates with well-developed lunules. Genital complex about 1.6 times wider than long, produced into slight postero-lateral lobes; abdomen 1-segmented, about 1.3 times longer than wide; genital complex about 2.0 times longer than abdomen. Caudal rami about 2 times longer than wide. Antenna with posterior process (
Fig. 35B
) on proximal segment; distal subchela with striations on surface. Post-antennal process weakly curved; associated papillae unisensillate, sensillae long (
Fig. 35C
). Posterior process of maxillule simple, ornamented with surface striations (
Fig. 35D
). Maxilla with distal margin of brachium spinulate (
Fig. 35E
). Maxilliped of female with smooth myxal margin and short claw on subchela. Sternal furca with short, spatulate tines (
Fig. 35F
). Distal exopodal segment of leg 1 with 3 plumose setae on posterior margin; distal spine 1 simple and slightly shorter than other spines; spines 2 and 3 each with accessory process; seta 4 about 1.4 times longer than spines 2 and 3. Leg 2 with patches of setules extending onto surface of endopodal segment 2; segment 3 with raised patch of setules and 2 striated crescentic membranes on surface (
Fig. 35G
); outer spines on exopodal segments 1 and 2 aligned obliquely across surface of ramus. Leg 3 exopod 3-segmented; first segment with short almost straight spine ornamented with lateral strip of membrane and ornamented with membranous flange along outer margin, lacking inner seta. Leg 4 uniramous, 3-segmented (
Fig. 35H
); exopodal segments 1 and 2 with I and III long spines, respectively, each ornamented with narrow strips of smooth membrane. Body length of female
5.36 mm
.
Remarks.
This is a large and distinctive species of
Caligus
readily characterized by the possession of posterolateral lobes on the female genital complex, in combination with the elongate spines on the exopod of leg 4, the spatulate tines of the sternal furca, the ornamentation of the distal margin of the maxilla and the presence of crescentic membranes on the third segment of the endopod of leg 2. The male described by Ho & Lin (2004) is not conspecific with the female; the true male of
C. longipedis
was redescribed by
Venmathi Maran
et al.
(2009)
.
Caligus longipedis
is widely distributed: having been reported from across the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific, including from Aden (Bassett-Smith, 1898a),
Belize
(Cressey, 1991),
Mexico
(
Shiino, 1959
, as
C. amplifurcus
Pearse, 1953
;
Morales-Serna
et al.
, 2014
),
Florida
(
USA
) (
Pearse, 1953, as
C. amplifurcus
),
Hawaii
(Lewis, 1967),
India
(Gnanamuthu, 1950, as
C. scabiei
),
Japan
(Kubota & Takakuwa, 1963),
Korea
(
Moon & Kim, 2012
),
Malaysia
(
Venmathi Maran
et al.
, 2009
), and
Taiwan
(Ho & Lin, 2004). This species has also been reported from Australian waters by Heegaard (1962), under the name
Caligus lucidus
(
Table 1
), and by Catalano & Hutson (2010) from
Arripis truttaceus
.
This copepod is most commonly reported as a parasite of carangids including
Caranx melampygus
,
C. hippos
,
C. caninus
,
C. crysos
(Mitchill, 1815)
,
C. lugubris
Poey, 1860
,
Carangoides chrysophrys
(Cuvier, 1833)
,
Megalaspis
cordyla
(Linnaeus, 1758)
,
Pseudocaranx dentex
(Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
,
Selene vomer
(Linnaeus, 1758)
and
Seriola
sp. However, it has been reported from a range of other fish families including:
Acanthuridae
,
Haemulidae
,
Ostraciidae
,
Paralichthyidae
, Pomacanthidae,
Scaridae
and
Serranidae (Cressey, 1991)
. In Australian waters Heegaard (1962) recorded it from
Nelusetta ayraud
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
(as
Cantherhines ayraud
) (
Monacanthidae
) at Cape Hawke (New South
Wales
); Catalano & Hutson (2010) reported it from
Arripis truttaceus
off the southeastern coast, and the new record from Moreton Bay was from juvenile
Gerres
(Gerreidae)
.
Caligus longipedis
is known to be a pest of the carangid
Pseudocaranx dentex
cultured in Japanese waters (
Ogawa, 1992
).