Complementary description and further record of Thysanote rastrelligeri Rangnekar, 1962 (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Lernaeopodidae) from a new host.

Abstract

The parasitic copepod Thysanote rastrelligeriRangnekar, 1962, was originally described from the branchial cavity of the Indian Mackerel, Rastrelligerkanagurta(Cuvier,1816) and it has not been reported after its original description. The type specimens of T. rastrelligeriare unavailable, so we provide herein a complementary description of the species based on fresh materials collected from the body surface of the Torpedo scad Megalaspis cordyla(L. 1758), obtained from the fish market at the Kerala coast, India. Thysanote rastrelligeri can be identified based on the following important features: presence of two pairs of maxillary processes; cephalothorax longer than trunk; presence of four simple posterior trunk processes, two dorso-laterals and two ventro-laterals; uropods about 0.5 times as long as posterior processes. Torpedo scad is considered as the new host record and the body surface, a new site of attachment.