Anilocra dimidiata Bleeker, 1857

Ravichandran, S., Vigneshwaran, P. & Rameshkumar, G., 2019, A taxonomic review of the fish parasitic isopod family Cymothoidae Leach, 1818 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothooidea) of India, Zootaxa 4622 (1), pp. 1-99 : 11-12

Anilocra dimidiata Bleeker, 1857

( Fig. 1 a–c)

Anilocra dimidiata Bleeker, 1857: 21–32 , pl. 2 (fig. 10).— Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881: 111–113, pl. VIII (Cym. XV), figs 5–6 .— Richardson, 1910: 18.— Nierstrasz, 1915: 81–83.— Monod, 1934: 10–11, pl. XVII (c–d), XXIV (a), XXV (d–f).— Bruce, 1987a: 99–102, 117, figs 9–11 .—Bruce & Harrisson-Nelson, 1988: 588.— Kazmi, Schotte & Yousuf, 2002: 107, fig. 95.— Rameshkumar, Trilles & Ravichandran, 2011: 88, fig. 5.— Trilles, Ravichandran & Rameshkumar, 2011: 448.—Rameshkumar, Ravichandran & Sivasubramanian, 2013a: 88–94.— Rameshkumar, Ramesh, Ravichandran & Trilles, 2014: 940–944, fig. 1a.

Anilocra carpentariensis Avdeev, 1977: 143–144 , fig. 3 .— Trilles, 1994: 59.

Anilocra dimediata .— Bowman & Tareen, 1983: 5 (lapsus).

? Anilocra longicauda .— Jayadev Babu & Sanjeeva Raj, 1984: 821. (not Anilocra longicauda Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881 ).

Unconfirmed records.— Miers, 1880: 462–463.— Stebbing, 1900: 639–640; 1905: 26.— Gerstaecker, 1882: 261. Nierstrasz 1918: 114; 1931: 128.— Serene, 1937: 69.— Pillai, 1954: 14.— Trilles, 1975: 305–306, pl. 1 (fig. 2); 1979: 249; 1994: 60–61.

Type and type locality. The syntype is held at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden ( RMNH 22). The type locality is Djakarta Bay (= Jakarta), Java, Indonesia ( Bleeker, 1857).

Material examined. All localities Tamil Nadu, southeast coast of India. 2 ovig. females (22, 25 mm), Vedaranyam, 30 January 2010, from Leiognathus sp., coll. G. Rameshkumar ( CAS / MBRM C- 23– C- 24). 1 ovig. female (24 mm), Mandapam, March 2015, from Leiognathus sp., coll. S. Ravichandran ( ZSI / MBRC D1-529 ) , 2 non ovig. females (18, 22 mm), Parangipettai, May 2016, from Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847 , coll. P. Vigneshwaran ( CAS / MBRM C-25 – C-26 ) .

Remark. Previously briefly described by Bleeker (1857) and Schiöedte & Meinert (1881), Anilocra dimidiata was most recently redescribed by Bruce (1986). The Indian material Anilocra dimidiata was most recently examined and the distribution and host updated by Rameskumar et al. (2011). The species can be distinguished by the posterolateral margins of pleonite 5 being strongly produced and acute, weakly produced antennula article 3, antenna extending to the posterior of pereonite 2, and weakly developed nodules on the posterior margin of the dactylus of pereopods 1–4.

Schiöedte & Meinert (1881) figures showed that Anilocra dimidiata has a sub-triangular body with a slightly concave posterior margin on the pleotelson. Bruce (1986) illustrated the syntype showing a narrow body, the uropod rami extending beyond posterior of pleotelson, the dorsal posterolateral angle of pleonite 5 strongly produced, acute and curving medially. However, according to Bruce (1986) width ranges of the Indonesian and Australian populations overlap. In the Indian specimens the uropod rami are subequal in length, as in the Indonesian specimens (Rameskumar et al. 2011), while they are unequal in Australian specimens according to Bruce (1986); antennula are with 8 articles as in the Australian specimens but erroneously mentioned with 6 and 7 articles in the text; pereopods 6 and 7 are with fewer spines on carpus and propodus.

Jayadev Babu & Sanjeeva Raj (1984) recorded Anilocra longicauda accompanied by brief descriptions without illustrations or figures from Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Shaw, 1804) Pulicat Lake , India. Jayadev Babu & Sanjeeva Raj (1984) stated that this species have “strongly produced and acute posterolateral margins of pleonite 5, weakly produced antennula article 3, antenna extending to the posterior of pereonite 2, and weakly developed nodules on the posterior margin of the dactylus of pereopods 1–4” this characters also resembles with A. dimidiata ( Bruce 1987a) . Jayadev Babu & Sanjeeva Raj’s material is not Anilocra longicauda , but is probably A. dimidiata .

Colour. Dense brown chromatophores on the side that are uppermost when on the host as first reported by Bleeker (1857) and later by Bruce (1987a).

Size. Non ovig. females 18–22 mm; ovig. females 22–25 mm.

Distribution. Anilocra dimidiata has a wide distribution. It has been previously recorded from the Indo–Malay-sian area, Batavia (= Djakarta) ( Bleeker 1857; Miers 1880), Indonesia, Vietnam ( Monod 1934), Philippines ( Richardson 1910), Sri Lanka and Palk Bay (Stebbing 1905; Bruce & Harrison-Nelson 1988), Travancore, southwestern coasts of India ( Pillai 1954). Later it was recorded from Wessell Islands, the Gulf of Carpentaria and Townsville in Australia ( Bruce 1986) and the Tsiuipaika Bay, Madagascar ( Bruce & Harrison-Nelson 1988) northern Arabian Sea ( Kazmi et al. 2002). The distribution of this species is here extended to the southeastern coasts of India ( Rameshkumar et al. 2011, 2014c).

Hosts. Bleeker (1857) just stated, “habite la peau de diverses espèces de poissons de la mer de Batavia” (It lives on the skin of different fish species of the Batavia Sea). Later, Anilocra dimidiata was reported from Psettus evansi ( Monodactylidae ; name unconfirmed) ( Nierstrasz 1915; Bruce 1986), Leiognathus bindus (as Photopectoralis bindus (Valenciennes, 1835) (Leiognathidae) and unspecified Nemipterus spp. ( Nemipteridae ) ( Bruce 1987a). Some other records need confirmation: “fish called Losilili”? ( Stebbing 1900); Scolopsis (Nemipteridae) ( Richardson 1910); Epinephelus (Serranidae) ( Monod 1934); Lactarius lactarius (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Lactariidae) ( Pillai 1954). The range of host fishes is here extended and now includes Sardinella longiceps (Clupeidae) ( Rameshkumar et al. 2011, 2014c).

Figures

FIGURE 1. a–c, Anilocra dimidiata Bleeker, 1857, female (24 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-529); d–f, Catoessa boscii (Bleeker, 1857), female (17 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-530); g–i, Ceratothoa angulata (Richardson, 1910), female (29 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-533); j–l, Cymothoa bychowskyi Avdeev, 1979, female (27 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-87); m–o, Cymothoa eremita (Brünnich, 1783), female (29 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-532); p–r, Cymothoa frontalis Milne Edwards, 1840, female (25 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-89).

FIGURE 3. a–c, Mothocya collettei Bruce, 1986, female (25 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-149); d–f, Mothocya melanosticta (Schiöedte & Meinert, 1884), female (24 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-538); g–i, Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880), female (28 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-539); j–l, Mothocya renardi (Bleeker, 1857), female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-540); m–o, Nerocila arres Bowman & Tareen, 1983, female (28 mm), (CAS/MBRM 475–476); p–r, Nerocila depressa Milne Edwards, 1840, female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-541).

FIGURE 5. Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880), a, male (13 mm) (CAS/MBRM C-167) dorsal view; b–m, female (28 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-539); b–f, pereopod 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7; g–k, pleopods 1–5; l, uropod; m, brood pouch.

FIGURE 6. Nerocila depressa Milne Edwards, 1840, female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-541). a, dorsal view; b, lateral view; c, forns; d, antennula; e, antenna; f, mandible; g, maxillula; h, maxilla; i, maxilliped.

FIGURE 9. Nerocila loveni Bovallius, 1887, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-544). a, dorsal view; b, lateral view; c, forns; d, uropod.

FIGURE 10. Nerocila loveni Bovallius, 1887, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-544). a, antennula; b, antenna; c, mandible; d, maxillula; e, maxilla; f, maxilliped; g, maxilliped article 3;

FIGURE 11. Nerocila loveni Bovallius, 1887, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-544). a–g, pereopod 1–7.