Caligus gracilis Dana, 1852

Boxshall, Geoffrey A. & Bernot, James P., 2023, Resolving taxonomic and nomenclatural problems in the genus Caligus O. F. Müller, 1785 (Copepoda: Caligidae), Zootaxa 5360 (4), pp. 545-567 : 563

Caligus gracilis Dana, 1852

In his study of material collected during the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Dana (1852, 1853) described an ovigerous female of Caligus taken from the body of a “ Serranus ” caught in the Atlantic off Rio de Janeiro and named it C. gracilis . His original description is very brief and is focussed on the body shape and proportions. It provides some detail of the setation of the caudal ramus and notes that the sternal furca has divergent, truncate tines. The text is supported by four figures: the dorsal habitus of the female, the antenna and postantennal process, the maxillule and the maxilliped ( Dana, 1855: pl. 94, figs. 5a-d). Parker (1968) included this species in his list of “ nomina nuda or species inquirenda ” and was followed in this action by Margolis et al. (1975). We continue to treat C. gracilis as a species inquirendum.

We note that this species is a junior homonym of Caligus gracilis van Beneden, 1851 which is now treated as a junior subjective synonym of Lepeophtheirus thompsoni Baird, 1850 .