Hasegawa, R. & M. Nitta. (2022). Rediscovery of Lernaeenicus ramosus Kirtisinghe, 1956 (Copepoda: Pennellidae) parasitizing the type host, comet grouper Epinephelus morrhua (Perciformes: Serranidae) from the Japanese coast, with a note on its underdeveloped head. Biogeography. 24:25-31. Sep 2022.
448345
Hasegawa, R. & M. Nitta
2022
Rediscovery of Lernaeenicus ramosus Kirtisinghe, 1956 (Copepoda: Pennellidae) parasitizing the type host, comet grouper Epinephelus morrhua (Perciformes: Serranidae) from the Japanese coast, with a note on its underdeveloped head.
Biogeography
24:25-31. Sep 2022
Publication
Available for editors
Lernaeenicus ramosus Kirtisinghe, 1956 is a mesoparasitic copepod that mainly infects serranid fishes including groupers (Epinephelus spp.). We collected two females of L. ramosus from a comet grouper, Epinephelus morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833), in the coastal waters of Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. This represents a rediscovery of L. ramosus from its type host, 66 years after the original description from the Indian Ocean. Partial sequences of 28S rDNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene were obtained. We report that the head of one adult female did not properly develop, suggesting possible phenotypic plasticity of this parasite due to the host attachment site.