Hoda H. El-Rashidy

Parasitic copepods on immigrant and native clupeid fishes caught in Egyptian coastal waters off Alexandria

Three species of parasitic copepods, one each from the siphonostomatoid families Lernanthropidae and Lernaeopodidae and one from the cyclopoid family Bomolochidae, are redescribed based on material collected from the gills of four fish species belonging to the family Clupeidae caught from coastal waters off Alexandria, Egypt. The recorded parasites are: Mitrapus oblongus (Pillai, 1964), found on Etrumeus teres (Dekay), an immigrant species from the Red Sea, and on Sardinellaaurita Valenciennes, a native Mediterranean species; Clavellisa ilishae Pillai, 1962 found only on S.aurita; and Nothobomolochusfradei Marques, 1965 found on Herklotsichthys punctatus (Rüppell), an immigrant species from the Red Sea, and on Sardinapilchardus (Walbaum), a native Mediterranean species. The first two of these copepods have been reported before on clupeid hosts from the Indian Ocean. The third was known from the eastern South Atlantic and the Arabian Gulf. None of the copepods has previously been recorded in the Mediterranean. All of the parasites reported here constitute new records for these hosts. Two of the hosts are Erythrean (=Lessepsian) immigrants and were caught in Mediterranean waters off the Egyptian coast. The original description of N. fradei (Marques, 1965) is inadequate by modern standards. This species is fully described here for the first time. The male of M. oblongus was briefly described by Pillai (1964), but its mouthparts are described in detail here for the first time.

Parasites Gained: Alien Parasites Switching to Native Hosts

Abstract Three parasitic copepods new to the well-studied Mediterranean fauna are reported. Two of them, Mitrapus oblongus (Pillai, 1964) and Clavellisa ilishae Pillai, 1962, are of Indo-Pacific origin and are considered here to have co-invaded the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal on Erythrean (Red Sea) immigrant hosts. Both are reported here from native Mediterranean clupeid fish hosts; this is the first evidence of host switching of any metazoan parasites from Erythrean immigrants to native fish hosts. The third parasite, Nothobomolochus fradei Marques, 1965, was previously known from the Gulf of Guinea and the Arabian Gulf. Possible explanations of its presence on clupeid hosts in Egyptian waters off Alexandria are discussed. The parasite utilizes an Erythrean immigrant clupeid and a native Mediterranean species as hosts. This account provides evidence of parasite and host faunal mixing on an unexpected scale.

Two new species of parasitic copepods (Crustacea) on two immigrant rabbitfishes (Family Siganidae) from the Red Sea

Two new species of parasitic copepods, one from each of the families Hatschekiidae and Bomolochidae, are reported from two immigrant species of rabbitfishes (Family Siganidae), both of which originated from the Red Sea but are now established in the Mediterranean. The descriptions of Hatschekiasiganicola n. sp. and Nothobomolochus neomediterraneus n. sp. are based on material of both sexes obtained from the gills of Siganus luridus Rüppell and S. rivulatus Forsskål, respectively, caught in Egyptian Mediterranean waters off the Alexandrian coast.

A new copepod (Siphonostomatoida: Lernanthropidae) parasitic on a Red Sea immigrant dragonet (Actinopterygii: Callionymidae), with a review of records of parasitic copepods from dragonets

A new species of parasitic copepod of the family Lernanthropidae is described from an immigrant population of the blotchfin dragonet Callionymus filamentosus Valenciennes (family Callionymidae) in the Eastern Mediterranean. Both sexes are described on the basis of material caught in Egyptian waters off the Alexandria coast at Abuqir. The new species shares with Lernanthropus breviculus Kabata, 1979 the possession of a small dorsal plate on the trunk that is so narrow at its origin that it does not overlap the bases of the fourth legs, which are therefore visible in dorsal view. These species differ in the shape of the cephalothorax and in the extent of the dorsal plate, which is shorter in the new species, revealing the caudal rami in dorsal view. Previous records of parasitic copepods utilising callionymids as hosts are reviewed: most belong to the families Pennellidae and Chondracanthidae.

New species and new records of Ergasilus Nordmann (Copepoda: Ergasilidae) from the gills of grey mullet (Mugilidae)

Four new Ergasilus species are described from five host species of grey mullet, family Mugilidae, held in the fish collections of The Natural History Museum, London. Ergasilus extensus n. sp. was found on Myxus petardi (Castelnau) from Australia, E. sittangenesis n. sp. on Sicamugil hamiltoni (Day) from Burma, E. piriformis n. sp. on Sicamugil cascasia (Hamilton Buchanan) from India, and E. ecuadorensis n. sp. on Mugil curema Valenciennes and M. hospes Jordan & Culver from Ecuador. New records of E. cyanopictus Caravalho, E. magnicornis Yin, E. orientalis Yamaguti and E. rostralis Ho, Jayarajian & Radhakrishnan on grey mullet are also given.

Biogeography and phylogeny of Dermoergasilus Ho & Do, 1982 (Copepoda : Ergasilidae), with descriptions of three new species

Three new species of Dermoergasilus are described from six species of grey mullet hosts. Dermoergasilus longiabdominalis n. sp. was found on Valamugil engeli (Bleeker) from the Philippines and Madagascar and on V. cunnesius (Valenciennes) from the Philippines and Mangalore, India. D. semiamplectens n. sp. occurred on Sicamugil hamiltoni (Day) from the Sittang River, Burma, on Liza subviridis (Valenciennes) and L. parsia (Hamilton Buchanan) from Calcutta, India, and on V. cunnesius (Valenciennes) from China. D. curtus n. sp. parasitised Rhinomugil squamipinnis (Swainson) from Alahabad, India. A key to the ten currently accepted species of Dermoergasilus is given. The biogeographical distribution of Dermoergasilus species is analysed and levels of host-specificity are surveyed within the genus. The phylogenetic relationships between the species of Dermoergasilus are also analysed.

The mesoparasitic genera of the Ergasilidae (Copepoda): with descriptions of new species of Paeonodes Wilson and Therodamas Krøyer

One species of each of the three mesoparasitic ergasilid genera, Therodamas Krøyer, Mugilicola Tripathi and Paeonodes Wilson, is described in detail. The descriptions of P. subviridis n. sp. and Mugilicola bulbosus Tripathi are based on new material collected from Liza subviridis (Valenciennes) from Guam and India, respectively. The description of Therodamas frontalis n. sp. is based on material from Mugil cephalus L. in Brazil and the redescription of Therodamas serrani Krøyer is based on examination of syntype material. The geographical distributions of all three genera are summarised. Analysis of the phylogenetic relationships between species of these three genera indicates that Paeonodes and Mugilicola form a single clade and that Paeonodes, as currently constituted, is paraphyletic.

Biogeography and phylogeny of Paraergasilus Markevich, 1937 (Copepoda : Ergasilidae), with descriptions of two new species from the gills of grey mullet

Two new species of Paraergasilus are reported from the gills of four species of grey mullet (Mugilidae). Paraergasilus dichotomus n. sp. was recorded on M. cephalus Linn. from New South Wales, Australia. Paraergasilus curtus n. sp. was found on the same host in Western Australia, on Valamugil cunnesius (Valenciennes) from the Philippines, on Valamugil seheli (Forsskal) from Sri Lanka and on Liza macrolepis (Smith) from Socotra, Yemen. Both new species differ from congeners in possessing a bifid antennary claw. The distribution of Paraergasilus species is summarized and the host specificity of Paraergasilus species is examined. Phylogenetic analysis of the relationships between Paraergasilus species indicated that there are two main lineages within the genus.

The discovery of Caligus temnodontis Brian, 1924 (Copepoda: Caligidae) from the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

The temnodontis variety of Caligus mauritanicus Brian, 1924 described by Brian (1924) is a valid species known only from a single host species, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus). New material of this species has been examined from the same host fish caught from Abuqir Bay, Alexandria (Egypt), from Iskenderun Bay (Turkey) and from off the coast of South Africa. Using this material, C. temnodontis Brian, 1924 is redescribed and compared with related species. It is most closely related to the Indo-Pacific species C. pagrosomi Yamaguti, 1939.

A new parasitic copepod (Cyclopoida: Bomolochidae) from a ponyfish (Leiognathidae) caught in Egyptian Mediterranean waters, with a review of hosts and key to species of Nothobomolochus

A new bomolochid copepod belonging to the genus Nothobomolochus Vervoort, 1962 is described from a Red Sea fish species, a ponyfish of the family Leiognathidae that has become established in the Eastern Mediterranean. The new species, N. leiognathicola n. sp., is based on material obtained from the gill chamber of the Red Sea immigrant ponyfish Leiognathus klunzingeri (Steindachner), caught in Egyptian waters off the Alexandria coast at Abuqir. A second new species, N. monodi n. sp., is established to accommodate some material previously described as N. denticulatus (Bassett-Smith, 1898), from the host Hemiramphus far Forsskål. A review of host records reveals that Nothobomolochus species utilise hosts representing five different orders, but are most commonly found on beloniform, clupeiform and perciform fishes. A newly constructed key to the 37 valid species of Nothobomolochus is presented.