Copepoda parasitic on Australian fishes, XIV. An assemblage of bathypelagic species

Abstract

A collection of copepods parasitic on fishes taken mainly off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, at depths 274–1 150 m, is described and illustrated. It comprises 23 species, of which only 19 can be identified and described in any detail. Seven species belong to the family Chondracanthidae, one to Caligidae, 10 to Lernaeopodidae and one to Naobranchiidae. Five of these species (Acanthochondria incisa, Chondracanthus genypteri, Ch. neali, Ch. polymixiae and Clavella ovata) have been found in Australian waters for the first time. The remaining comprise two new genera (Rohdea and Cryptova) and 12 new species (Rohdea cryptopoda, Lateracanthus novus, Caligus cresseyorum, Cryptova limbifera, Clavella tumidula, C. deminuta, Anaclavella (?) filifera, Neobrachiella brevibrachiata, N. microdigitata, N. chlorophthalmi, N. mirifica and Naobranchia alta). The exact generic affiliation of A. (?) filifera is impossible, because the male of its only other hitherto known species, A. sillaginoides, has not been found. Inadequate material allows one species of Clavella to be identified only as Clavella sp. One sample contains only one specimen and can be identified only to the familial level. It is possible that it belongs to the genus Immanthe.