Parasitic copepods (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) on fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific

Abstract

We surveyed copepods parasitic on the fishes at Palmyra, a remote atoll in the Central Indo-Pacific faunal region. In total, we collected 849 individual fish, representing 44 species, from the intertidal lagoon flats at Palmyra and recovered 17 parasitic copepod species. The parasitic copepods were:OrbitacolaxwilliamsionMulloidichthysflavolineatus;AnuretesserratusonAcanthurusxanthopterus;CaligusconfususonCarangoidesferdau,Carangoidesorthogrammus,Caranxignobilis,Caranxmelampygus, andCaranxpapuensis;CaliguskapuhilionChaetodonaurigaandChaetodonlunula;CaliguslaticaudusonRhinecanthusaculeatus,Pseudobalistesflavimarginatus,M.flavolineatus,Upeneustaeniopterus,Chrysipteraglauca, andEpinephalusmerra;CaligusmutabilisonLutjanusfulvusandLutjanusmonostigma;CaligusrandallionC.ignobilis;Caligussp. onL.fulvus;CaritusserratusonChanoschanos;LepeophtheiruslewisionA.xanthopterus;LepeophtheirusuluusonC.ignobilis;DissonussimilisonArothronhispidus;Nemesissp. onCarcharhinusmelanopterus;HatschekialongiabdominalisonA.hispidus;HatschekiabicaudataonChaetodonaurigaandChaetodonlunula;KroyerialongicaudaonC.melanopterusandLernanthropussp. onKyphosuscinerascens. All copepod species reported here have been previously reported from the Indo-Pacific but represent new geographical records for Palmyra, demonstrating large-scale parasite dispersion strategies.

Parasitic nematodes of marine fishes from Palmyra Atoll, East Indo-Pacific, including a new species of Spinitectus (Nematoda, Cystidicolidae)

“…The present study is the first detailed survey of the diversity and ecological attributes of the parasitic nematodes infecting fishes at Palmyra Atoll. Consistent with observations of the monogenean and parasitic copepod fauna of Palmyra Atoll fishes (Vidal-Martinez et al 2017; Soler-Jiménez et al 2019), parasitic nematode species richness at Palmyra Atoll appears low (10 species in 44 host fish) compared with others Indo-Pacific regions. In fact, several of the fish species we examined (16 of 44) were not parasitized by nematodes at all, even with large sample sizes for some fish species (e.g.…”

“…Adler 1992). A similar pattern has been suggested for other groups of parasites of marine fish from the lagoonal flats of Palmyra Atoll such as monogeneans and parasitic copepods (Vidal-Martínez et al 2017; Soler-Jiménez et al 2019).…”

“…This study is part of a larger project to understand the structure and function of the Palmyra Atoll’s food webs. This paper is a companion to three others examining different fish parasite taxa (Vidal-Martínez et al 2012, 2017; Soler-Jiménez et al 2019) from Palmyra’s lagoon flats. As such, our survey adds to the few published, detailed species descriptions or host records from this Central Indo-Pacific region (Palm and Bray 2014).…”

Interannual variation in the metazoan parasite communities of bigeye trevally Caranx sexfasciatus (Pisces, Carangidae)

“…selene) have been recorded in Carangidae from the Pacific coast of Mexico [32]. Copepods are a highly diverse group that mainly parasitize marine fish [22,28,45]; however, this crustacean group has received limited attention in Mexico [14]; in the present study, they were the second most diverse group and represented 22% of the total taxa recovered ( Table 1).…”

Effects of Different Diets on Population Growth of Cultured Cyclopoid Copepod, Mesocyclops leuckarti (Claus, 1857)

“…Due to the importance of the copepods as primary and secondary consumers in the aquatic food and feeding habitats, this group is intensively investigated for both animals from wild and under laboratory conditions. Important contributions on the aspect are by Fryer (1957), Gliuriz (1969), Smyly (1961), Selander et al (2019), Soler-Jiménez et al (2019 and Altaff (2020).…”