Redescription of the Freshwater Branchiuran Crustacean, Argulus diversus Wilson, with a Comparison of Related Species

Abstract

Specimens from the catfish, Ictalurus natalis (LeSueur), are the basis of the description of Argulus diversus which C. B. Wilson did not give in conjunction with its name. Due to the con- fusion of species of the Argulus americanus-maculosus-diversus-versicolor group, these are compared and their validity confirmed. In his review of American species of Argulus, Meehean (1940) redescribed A. maculosus using specimens that he considered as rep- resenting that species. He improperly desig- nated these specimens as new types for the species because he believed C. B. Wilson's syntypic lots of A. maculosus, which he ex- amined, were indistinguishable from A. amer- icanus Wilson. Wilson (1944) pointed out the differences between A. maculosus Wilson and A. americanus Wilson and proposed the name A. diversus for the species that Meehean called A. maculosus.