A new species of Acantholochus (Copepoda: Bomolochidae) parasitic on Centropomus undecimalis (Osteichthyes: Centropomidae) from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

A new species of Acantholochus Cressey, 1984 (Copepoda: Bomolochidae) parasitic on the gills of common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, from the coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from all other species of Acantholochus by the presence of only one inner seta on middle segment of the second and third endopods.Key words: Copepoda -Bomolochidae -Acantholochus -Centropomus undecimalis -Rio de Janeiro -Brazil Acantholochus Cressey, 1984 was proposed to include bomolochid species with rostral hooks, with heavily sclerotized spines on the third exopod segments and without modified setae on antennule. According to Cressey (1984) this genus included five species, A. asperatus (Cressey & Cressey, 1980), A. crevalleus (Cressey, 1981, A. divaricatus (Cressey & Cressey, 1980) (designated as the type species), A. nasus Cressey, 1984 and A. nudiusculus (Cressey &Cressey, 1980). Later, Luque and Bruno (1990) described two additional species, A. galeichthyos and A. paralabracis from the gills and inner surface of the opercula from Peruvian marine fishes. Only two species, A. asperatus and A. divaricatus were recorded from the Brazilian coastal zone (Boxshall & Montú 1997).During a parasitological survey of Brazilian marine fishes, specimens of an undescribed species of Acantholochus were collected from the gills of Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792). The new species is described, illustrated and compared with the related species of this genus. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe copepods studied are part of the material collected from 79 specimens of C. undecimalis from Angra dos Reis, coastal zone of the State of Rio de Janeiro (23°01'S, 44°19' W), Brazil, during April and December 2000. Hosts were identified according to Rivas (1986). The copepods were removed from the gills of hosts with a 1:4000 formalin solution, and fixed and stored in 70ºGL ethanol. Some entire specimens and their appendages were dissected and cleared with lactic acid. micrometers (µm), the mean is followed by the range. The illustrations were made with the aid of a drawing tube mounted on a Hund Wetzlar H-600 phase contrast microscope. Values of mean abundance and prevalence of infestation were according to Bush et al. (1997). The holotype and paratypes were deposited in the Coleção Carcinológica do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (MNRJ), and some paratypes in the Coleção Helmintológica do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil (CHIOC). Host voucher specimens were deposited in the Coleção Ictiológica do Museu Nacional, do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. RESULTS Copepoda Edwards, 1840 Poecilostomatoida Thorell, 1859Bomolochidae Claus, 1871 Acantholochus Cressey, 1984 Acantholochus unisagittatus sp. nov.(Figs 1-13)Description: female ( Fig. 1) (based on 21 specimens). Total length 1.24 (1.02-1.38) mm (excluding antennule and caudal rami setae). Greatest width 614.2 (540.6-690.1). Cephalothorax wider than long, antennule visible in dorsal view. wide. Abdomen (Fig. 2) 3-segmented, first segment 63.7 (...

Gill metazoan parasites of the spotted goatfish Pseudupeneus maculatus (Ostheichthyes: Mullidae) from the Coast of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil

“…The Bomolochidae Hamaticolax scutigerulus was described by Vervoort (1969) andCressey (1983). In Brazil, Tavares and Luque (2003) have described new species of Bomolochidae Hamaticolax unisagittatus (Tavares & Luque 2003) (=Acantholochus unisagittatus sp. nov.) in common snook from the Rio de Janeiro in high prevalence and mean abundance levels.…”

<b>First record of Hamaticolax <i>scutigerulus</i> (Copepoda: Bomolochidae) in Brazil, ectoparasite of the spotted goatfish <i>Pseudupeneus maculatus</i> (Actinopterygii: Mullidae)

“…Similarly, Tavares and Luque (2003) described Hamaticolaxunisagittatus (Tavares & Luque, 2003) (= Acantholochus unisagittatus sp. nov.) in Centropomus undecimalis in Rio de Janeiro, with high prevalence and mean abundance.…”

Type material of Acanthocephala, Nematoda and other non-helminths phyla (Cnidaria, Annelida, and Arthropoda) housed in the Helminthological Collection of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute/ FIOCRUZ (CHIOC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 1979 to 2016

“…Species placed in Acantholochus Cressey, 1984 by Tavares and Luque (2003) and transferred to Hamaticolax by Morales-Serna and Gómez (2010). Holotype and other female paratypes deposited in the MNRJ carcinological collection.…”