Nippoparasitus unoashicola, a new genus and species of philoblennid copepod (Cyclopoida) parasitic on the Pacific sugar limpet, Patelloida saccharina (Linnaeus, 1758) (Patellogastropoda: Lottiidae) from the intertidal zone of eastern Japan

Zootaxa. 2016 Oct 11;4174(1):386-395. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4174.1.23.

Abstract

Nippoparasitus unoashicola, a new genus and species of mesoparasitic copepod, is described based on specimens of both sexes collected from the mantle cavity of the Pacific sugar limpet, Patelloida saccharina (Linnaeus, 1758) (Patellogastropoda: Lottiidae), in the intertidal zone of the Uraga Channel (North Pacific Ocean), Japan. Nippoparasitus gen. nov. differs from other philoblennid genera by two unique characters: the labium is bloated and branched into multiple digitate lobes in female, and the antenna has three claw-like spines on the terminal segment. Nippoparasitus is probably closely related to Myzotheridion Laubier & Bouchet, 1976 with which it shares a series of processes on the terminal segment of the maxilla.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Copepoda / anatomy & histology*
  • Copepoda / classification*
  • Copepoda / physiology
  • Female
  • Gastropoda / parasitology*
  • Gastropoda / physiology
  • Japan
  • Male