Corresponding author: Kerry A. Hadfield (
Academic editor: Tammy Horton
The branchial-attaching cymothoid genus,
van der Wal S, Smit NJ, Hadfield KA (2019) Review of the fish parasitic genus
Currently, there are 33 known and accepted
Most species of
Twenty-seven specimens of
Specimens were identified by illustrating all body parts and appendages using a Nikon SMZ1500 Stereo Microscope and a Nikon Eclipse80i Compound Microscope, both equipped with drawing tubes. The position of specimens and dissected parts were manipulated to obtain the most accurate direct and complete view in order to minimise errors in illustrated ratios of segments. Material loaned from national museums was not dissected. Species descriptions were made with the aid of the taxonomy software package
Abbreviations:
Species from
The original description by
1 | Pleonite 5 lateral margins visible; uropods half the length of pleotelson or longer; pereonite 1 anterior margin without medial projections; pereonite 1 anterolateral margin extending to medial region of the eye |
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– | Pleonite 5 lateral margins largely concealed by pleonite 4; uropods short, less than half the length of pleotelson; pereonite 1 anterior margin medially pointed; pereonite 1 anterolateral margin extending to posterior margin of the eye |
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2 | Cephalon with rounded anterior margin; uropod rami apices broadly rounded; pleotelson evenly rounded |
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– | Cephalon anterior margin narrowly rounded; uropod rami apices narrowly rounded; pleotelson sub-quadrate |
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3 | Pereon 1.2–1.4 times as long as wide; cephalon anterior margin blunt; pereopod 7 without bulbous protrusions; uropods more than half the length of pleotelson; pleonites subequal in length |
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– | Pereon as long as wide; cephalon anterior margin concave; pereopod 7 merus and carpus with bulbous protrusions; uropods half the length of pleotelson; pleonite 5 longest |
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Type material held at the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (syntypes
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Unknown.
(all from South Africa).
(ovigerous ♀). Figs
Photos of
Photos of syntype material
Records listed from west to east. North Pacific Ocean: Bering Sea (
Originally described in 1840, from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, from an unknown host,
Interspecific character states between
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Ovoid | Elongate ovoid | Elongate ovoid | Round |
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Sub-truncate, blunt anterior margin | Sub-triangular, bluntly pointed anterior margin | Sub-triangular, pointed anterior margin | Sub-triangular, blunt anterior margin |
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Straight | Medially indented | Medial projection | Concave |
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Not extending past posterior margin of pereonite 7 | Not extending past posterior margin of pereonite 7 | Extending past posterior margin of pereonite 7 | Not extending past posterior margin of pereonite 7 |
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Absent | Absent | Absent | Present on merus and carpus |
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Pleonites 1–5 sub-equal | Pleonite 5 longest and indented | Pleonite 1 longest | Pleonite 5 longest, medially convex |
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Narrower than other pleonites | As long as other pleonites | As wide as pleotelson | Narrower than other pleonites |
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Visible | Visible | Largely concealed by pleonite 4 | Slightly concealed by pleonite 4 |
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Evenly rounded | Roughly quadrate and curved upwards | Rounded | Broadly rounded |
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Slightly smaller than exopod | Smaller than exopod (not dissected) | Half the size of exopod | Smaller than exopod (not dissected) |
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Broadly rounded, more than half the length of pleotelson | Apices narrowly rounded, more than half the length of pleotelson | Short, pointed, less than half the length of pleotelson | Broadly rounded, half the length of pleotelson |
(ovigerous ♀). Figs
Photos of
(paratype intermoult ♂). Figs
Photos of
The epithet is constructed in a possessive form of a personal name. This species is named after Xena, the warrior princess, in reference to the strong nature of the female cymothoid isopod.
Ovigerous female (34.0 mm
Currently only known from the mouth of the Orange River, Alexander Bay, South Africa (Atlantic Ocean).
Two other
(ovigerous ♀). Figs
Photos of
The epithet is a noun in the genitive singular. The species name
Ovigerous females (28.0–40.0 mm
Known from the Indian Ocean, off the south coast of South Africa.
Not known (type material was collected from the fish sorting table following a trawl and not from a specific fish species).
Several characters differentiate between
(ovigerous ♀). Figs
Photos of
Ovigerous female (29.0 mm
The epithet is a noun in the nominative singular. It is named after its most distinct, defining character, which is the rounded shape of the body. The Latin word for round is
Currently only known from Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa.
Not known.
The diagnostic characters of
When comparing
The main differentiating characters between
From previous collections across South Africa, four
Summary of the hosts, distribution, and attachment sites of all 33 species from the genus
Species | Distribution | Hosts | References |
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See in text. | |||
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Menzies and Kruczynski (1983) | |||
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The project was funded through a Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) Marine Research Grant for KA Hadfield. The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) (NRF project IFR170210222411 Grant 109352, NJ Smit, PI) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in conjunction with the Foundational Biodiversity Information programme (FBIP, S van der Wal) supported this research and is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed, and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the NRF. This is contribution number 336 from the