Abstract
Exoskeleton of several copepods along the coastal and offshore waters of the Southeastern Arabian Sea provide a convenient habitat for the attachment of epibiotic diatoms, Pseudohimantidium pacificum, Protoraphis sp. and Protoraphis atlantica. P. pacificum was highly host-specific towards corycaeid copepods, whereas the genus Protoraphis showed specificity towards calanoid and pontellid copepods. All the host copepods identified except Labidocera sp. formed a new host record for Protoraphis, with Scolecithrix sp. belonging to an entirely new family, Scolecitrichidae. Taxonomic description, ecological habit, biogeographic distribution, host range, attachment sites and sex preference of the diatoms are described. A high number of associations was observed in females and offshore waters, corresponding to the larger size of the host and the unavailability of non-living substrates along offshore waters. The study suggests the utilization of hosts by the diatoms as a primary habitat. The report is the first along the Arabian Sea, creating baseline data on epibiosis
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