We report here on the first observations and capture of breeding populations of the largemouth blenny, Labrisomus xanti Gill, 1 860 (Family Labrisornidae) in California marine waters. We also provide a list of those members of the closely related families Labrisornidae, Clinidae, and Chaenopsidae that are found off California with a key to these species.The first observation of this species in California waters occurred on 15 July 2015, when Callie Mack and Tara Howell observed one individual in about 5 m of water in front of the Marine Room Restaurant (La Jolla Shores) (32°5rN, 117°16*W) among low lying rocks. Ms. Mack described the fish as having "a blenny-like profile, about 6 or 7 inches long (the length of my hand), bright red and covered with many small blue spots, and a partial bright blue ring at the base of each eye. It was perched in a rock crevice on its red pelvic fins. Pectoral fins were red shading to yellow. Dorsal fin was also bright red with blue spots on the foredorsal [sic] part. It had 3 rows of small for-like (or eyelash-like) cirri, also covered with blue spots, on the top of its head, one set just below each eye, and 2 rows above the eyes on the forehead. It was either curious or territorial (probably the latter); kept coming out of its crevice, sitting in the open for a few moments, then going back in."Ms. Mack and Ms. Howell returned to the same general area on 19 July 2015 and observed at least four different individuals, two on each dive and all at a bottom depth of 3-4 m. On this occasion she provided us with a number of images of one of the individuals that was red and she described it as quite territorial as it chased off a California sheephead and lunged at Ms. Howell's video camera. From Ms. Mack's initial description, and her subsequent photographs, we determined that these fish were most likely the largemouth blenny, Labrisomus xanti and that the red individuals were breeding males (Thomson et al. 2000),Additional observations were made of this species at the same general site on 11 and 19 August 2015 by Rogei Uziin who observed at least five unique individuals. Similar to previous sightings, he observed the fish at depth of 3-4 m on low-lying rocks. However on these days, Mr. Uzun observed what was likely mating behavior and nest guarding. On both 1 1 and 1 9 August, he observed, photographed, and video recorded a bright red individual (Fig. 1) courting and apparently fertilizing the eggs of two drabber individuals (Fig. 2). This male then guarded and aerated the apparent eggs. Similar courtship and parental behaviors are known for other species of the genus Labrisomus (Gibran et al. 2004).Janna Nichols made the first observation of this species known to us away from the
A new copepod species, Lepeophtheirus schaadti n. sp., is established based on female and male specimens obtained from the Giant Kelpfish, Heterostichus rostratus Gi¬ rard, 1854, and Striped Kelpfish, Gibbonsia metzi Hubbs, 1927, captured at Inner Cabrillo Beach in southern California, U.S.A. In addition, comparisons with copepod specimens identified by Wilson (1935) as L. parviventris Wilson, 1905 from the Spotted Kelpfish, Gibbonsia elegans (Cooper, 1864), in Newport Bay, California, revealed they are conspecific with L. schaadti n. sp. The new species differs from its congeners by a combination of characters that include: female with a genital complex that is more than half the length of the cephalothoracic shield and with posterolateral lobes, an abdomen that is composed of one somite and is less than one-quarter the length of the genital complex, a maxillulary dentiform process bearing a thin ridge on the inner tine and lacking a basal knob, no myxal process on the maxilliped, apically rounded tines on the sternal furca, the spine on the first exopodal segment of leg 3 inserted distally on the basal swelling, a 3-segmented leg 4 exopod, and a broad inner lobe of leg 5 that does not extend beyond the posterior margin of the genital complex; and male with three accessory claws on the antennal endopod and no myxal process on the maxilliped. L. schaadti n. sp. represents the first account of an ectoparasitic species from the Striped Kelpfish and Spotted Kelpfish, as well as the fourth ectoparasitic species reported from the Giant Kelpfish.Members of the copepod family Caligidae Burmeister, 1835, commonly known as sea lice, are predominantly external parasites of marine fishes (Dojiri and Ho 2013). Among the 30 valid caligid genera, Lepeophtheirus von Nordmann, 1832 is one of the more speciose genera, with 121 valid species and 2 recognized subspecies (Boxshall and Walter 2016). Lepeophtheirus parasitizes marine teleosts worldwide, but is more diverse in temperate latitudes (Kabata 1979). One species, Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Kroyer, 1837) sensu lato, is the most pathogenic ectoparasite on farmed salmonids in the northern hemisphere (Johnson et al. 2004;Costello 2006). Presently, 17 species of Lepeophtheirus have been reported from 16 fish families along the California coast, from San Francisco Bay in the north to La Jolla in the south of the state (Table 1). Recent samples of Giant Kelpfish ( Heterostichus rostratus Girard, 1854) and Striped Kelpfish ( Gibbonsia metzi Hubbs, 1927) (Clinidae Swainson, 1839) collected within the Port of Los Angeles during Cabrillo Marine Aquarium's Inner Cabrillo Beach Survey (ICBS) were infected with an unidentified species of Lepeophtheirus. The ICBS is a long-term, tri-annual survey designed to monitor the abundance and diversity of the invertebrates and
Collections of giant kelpfish at inner Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro, California revealed the presence of an undescribed species of Heptacyclus, described here as Heptacyclus cabrilloi n. sp. The leech is small, only up to 14 mm total length including suckers; it has 2 pair of slightly crescentiform eyes on the oral sucker, 1 pair of punctiform ocelli on the second annulus of the trachelosome, 13 pairs of punctiform ocelli dorsally and ventrally on the urosome, and 14 marginal punctiform ocelli on the caudal sucker. Pigmentation is yellowish-tan with an unpigmented mid-dorsal stripe on both trachelosome and urosome, and with unpigmented halos around eyespots and urosome ocelli. Male reproductive system with 5 pairs of large, spherical testisacs. Mycetomes present, accessory gland cells on atrial cornu absent. Prevalence was 24.1% in June, 2011 with a range of 1-2 leeches per fish and 25.8% in October, 2011 with a range of 1-6 leeches per fish.
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