Amblycephalon indicus Pillai, 1954

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 : 10-11

Amblycephalon indicus Pillai, 1954

Amblycephalon indicus Pillai, 1954: 13 ; 1963: 66–68, figs 1, 2.

Type and type locality. Pillai (1963) collected two female specimens from the caudal fin of Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 from Trivandrum, Kerala Coast, Arabian Sea. Pillai (1963) clearly stated that the holotype female specimen was deposited in the Indian Museum, Kolkata and paratype female specimen was deposited in the Marine Biological Laboratory, Trivandrum without any mention of the registration number. Our attempts to retrieve and enquire any ‘potential’ material that could be identified as the type material for Amblycephalon indicus ended in vain. As there are no museum records of Pillai’s (1954; 1963) material, it seems inevitable that the types were either not deposited or have been subsequently lost.

Remarks. Based on Pillai’s (1954, 1963) description, the species can be easily distinguished from other species of cymothoid by with the following characteristics: pereon segments are relaxed; cephalon large, almost squarish with the antero-median part slightly bulged, posterior margin trilobed; posterolateral margins of the pereon, except that of the pereonite 7 are not produced; pleon is slightly narrower than the pereon, not immersed. Moutparts appendages are roughly as in Anilocra , except that the molar portion of the mandibles has a movable membra-nous lamina. All the pereopods are prehensile with long falcate dactyli ( Pillai 1954, 1963). Until now the identification of this species is based only on Pillai’s original description and it needs an accurate redescription.

Distribution. Recorded from Trivandrum, Kerala Coast, India ( Pillai 1954, 1963).

Hosts. Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829 ( Pillai 1954, 1963).