Abstract
The genus Ceratothoa Dana, 1852 is revised for South African waters and re-diagnosed. Ceratothoa retusa (Schioedte & Meinert, 1883) is recorded from the eastern coast, and Ceratothoa africanae sp. n. and C. famosa sp. n. are described; C. imbricata (Fabricius, 1775) and C. trigonocephala (Leach, 1818), are redescribed, revised and excluded from the South African fauna. Ceratothoa africanae sp. n. can be distinguished by the stout body shape of the female; triangular cephalon with a pointed rostrum; short uropods which do not extend past the pleotelson; large carinae on the pereopod basis; a broad pleon; and large medial lobes on female pleopods. Ceratothoa famosa sp. n. is characterised by the long rectangular body shape; pereonite 1 with a raised medial protrusion; narrow antenna with antennule article 1 expanded; uropods which reach the posterior margin of the pleotelson; narrow rami on uropods; and no appendix masculina on pleopod 2 of the male specimens.
Highlights
Cymothoid isopods are obligate parasites of both freshwater and marine fishes, where they will attach to the external surfaces, gills or inside the buccal-cavity of their fish host (Kensley and Schotte 1989, Trilles 1991)
One of the most common genera of tongue-biters in southern Africa is Ceratothoa Dana, 1852
This species had been recorded from South Africa (Kensley 1978, 2001), no South African specimens were found during the present study that could be identified as C. trigonocephala, and the species is here excluded from the South Africa fauna
Summary
Cymothoid isopods are obligate parasites of both freshwater and marine fishes, where they will attach to the external surfaces, gills or inside the buccal-cavity of their fish host (Kensley and Schotte 1989, Trilles 1991). None of the material agreed with the descriptions of C. imbricata and C. trigonocephala, and no positive identification for these two species in South Africa could be made. These species are excluded from the South African fauna. Sampling revealed two new species from the region, leaving the total at three species of Ceratothoa in South Africa
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