A new genus and species of mesoparasitic ergasilid (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) from brackish water pufferfishes collected in northern Australian waters

Abstract

A new mesoparasitic ergasilid copepod, Majalincola buthi n. g., n. sp., is described based on material collected from the gills of Marilyna darwinii (Castelnau) and M. meraukensis (de Beaufort) (Tetraodontidae) captured in brackish waters in northern Australia. The new genus is characterised by the presence in the fully-transformed adult female of: four tagmata (antennary, neck, postantennary cephalothoracic region and trunk region); a 5-segmented antennule; a trimerous leg 1 endopod; and a free exopod segment armed with two setae on the fifth leg. The establishment of the new genus is supported by the results of a cladistic analysis of Majalincola and members of its sister taxon.

Proposal of Tiddergasilus gen. nov. (Ergasilidae: Cyclopoida) for T. iheringi comb. nov. from the gills of Hoplias malabaricus (Erythrinidae: Characiformes) from Brazil

“…Another clade is composed of Gamidactylus Thatcher & Boeger, 1984, Gamispatulus Thatcher & Boeger, 1984, Pseudovaigamus Amado, Ho & Rocha, 1995, Vaigamus Thatcher & Robertson, 1984and Gamispinus Thatcher & Boeger, 1984, which represents members of the clade formerly referred to as the Vaigamidae. Although this clade corroborates the results of past morphological analyses (Amado et al 1995, Tang andKalman 2008), the relationships between the included genera differ.…”

“…As in the previous phylogenies (Amado et al 1995, Tang andKalman 2008), those genera are sister taxa, but their relative phylogenetic relationships differ in the present analysis, with the sister-group Amplexibranchius and Miracetyma supported the following synapomorphies: second endopod segment of leg 1 modified (Character 9), endopod of leg 1 lacking spines, and endopod of leg 2 lacking spines (Characters 10 and 12). Accordingly, this is the most robust clade in the phylogeny, presenting the highest Bremer support.…”

“…Tiddergasilus gen. nov., like species of many other genera of Ergasilidae, presents exopod of leg 4 2-segmented; and antenna small and robust, with the short second segment, similar to species of Majalincola Tang & Kalman, 2008, Paeonodes Wilson, 1944, Teredophilus Rancurel, 1954, Therodamas Kroyer, 1862and Urogasilus Rosim, Boxshall & Ceccarelli, 2012 A more detailed redescription of certain features (e.g. number of setae on antennule) was hampered by the conditions of the preserved specimens.…”

“…A parsimony analysis was performed with a matrix of 15 taxa and 16 morphological characters using PAUP 4.0a152 (Swofford 2002). The characters used were based on previous phylogenetic analyses (Amado et al 1995, Tang andKalman 2008); in addition, new characters were included in the analysis. The included taxa are those genera with species occurring in the freshwater habitats of the Neotropical Region.…”

A new species and host range of Therodamas (Copepoda, Ergasilidae) from the Eastern Tropical Pacific

“…There are only four genera among the family that are mesoparasitic, living partly embedded in the host, usually with the anterior end forming an anchor process. These genera are: Therodamas Krøyer, 1863, Paeonodes Wilson, 1944, Mugilicola Tripathi, 1960, and the recently described Majalincola Tang & Kalman, 2008. Members of Therodamas along with these other mesoparasitic genera share a characteristic, neck-like elongation within the cephalic region, between the antennae and the mouth (Thatcher, 1998;Tang & Kalman, 2008). This genus has a long and complex taxonomic history; it has been proposed to represent a separate family, the Therodamasidae (cf.…”