A new species of Clausidium Kossmann, 1874 (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) associated with ghost shrimps from the Persian Gulf, including female-male interlocking mechanisms and remarks on host specificity

Host specificity and microhabitat preference of symbiotic copepods (Cyclopoida: Clausiididae) associated with ghost shrimps (Decapoda: Callichiridae, Callianideidae)

“…The mean body length of N. jousseaumei and C. typa were 45 and 55 mm, respectively. We found 8,052 individual of Clausidium persiaensis Sepahvand & Kihara, 2017 associated to 125 individuals of C. typa and 1,685 specimens of Clausidium iranensis Sepahvand et al., 2019 on 224 specimens of N. jousseaumei . We observed absolute host specificity, that is, C. persiaensis was only found on C. typa , and C. iranensis was only found on N. jousseaumei .…”

“…All organisms included in this study were collected at the Oli Village located in the coast of the Persian Gulf (27°50′14.62″N and 51°53′24.85″E). The ghost shrimp fauna at the site was dominated by Neocallichirus jousseaumei and Callianidea typa Milne Edwards, 1837 that supported the populations of the symbiotic copepods Clausidium iranensis Sepahvand et al., 2019 (Figure 1) and Clausidium persiaensis Sepahvand and Kiahara, 2017 (Figure 2). A lever was used for lifting boulders or splitting layered rocks to find the exposed host specimens.…”

“…Both species of symbiotic copepods displayed extremely high host specificity. Among four species of callianassid ghost shrimps that live in the intertidal zones of the Persian Gulf, Clausidium iranensis Sepahvand et al., 2019 and Clausidium persiaensis Sepahvand & Kihara, 2017, colonized only Neocallichrus jousseaumei (Nobili, 1904) and Callianidea typa Milne Edwards, 1837, respectively. Although more intensive sampling could potentially yield symbionts of other hosts, our results do suggest high host specificity within clausidium copeods assemblage may relate to host physiology, ecology, or behavior host of the clausidium copepopds.…”

“…These symbionts are generally thought to be either parasitic or commensal, and include a variety of organisms, such as copepods (Jackson, 1996). The ghost shrimps Callianidea typa Milne Edwards, 1837 and Neocalllichirus jousseaumei (Nobili, 1904) are well distributed in the Persian Gulf and have been reported as hosts of cyclopoid copepods of the genus Clausidium (Sepahvand, Kihara, & Boxshall, 2019; Sepahvand, Rastegar‐Pouyani, Kihara, & Momtazi, 2017).…”

“…They found that, host‐size adjusted density of C. dissimile was affected by the host species and the months sampled. To test the hypothesis that particular copepod symbionts preferred particular locations on the host's body, we assessed microhabitat selection and host specificity of Clausidium persiaensis Sepahvand & Kihara, 2017 and C. iranensis Sepahvand et al., 2019 on the ghost shrimps Callianidea typa and Neocallichirus jousseaumei .…”