Suárez-Morales, E., C. Cruz-Gómez & G.A. Boxshall. (2024). A new genus of Herpyllobiidae (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) from a deep-living annelid (Polychaeta: Sigalionidae). Systematic Parasitology. 101(5):1-8.
A taxonomic study of deep-sea polychaetes collected at a depth of 2,805 m of the northern coast of California revealed a scaleworm of the
family Sigalionidae with an attached parasitic copepod. The copepod represents an undescribed genus of
the family Herpyllobiidae, comprising mesoparasitic
copepods chiefy recorded from polychaetes of the
family Polynoidae. Blakerius gen. nov. diverges from
the other herpyllobiid genera by its possession of 1)
a chalice-shaped ectosoma with several protuberances
along the posterior margin and a long cylindrical
shaft with a hyaline coating and integumental sculpturing, a short stalk with a small, anteriorly placed
sclerotized ring, 2) a relatively large, discoid-shaped
endosoma with digitiform process, and 3) attached
male copepodids with 3-segmented antennules, containing limbless sac-like males. The new genus is compared with other herpyllobiids. This discovery
increases the number of known herpyllobiid genera to
six and is the frst record of a herpyllobiid parasitizing a sigalionid polychaete.