Vol. 62, 2023
(update: 2023.9.7)
Morphological Description and
Molecular Characterisation of Glyptothoa
gen. nov., a Fish Parasitic Deep-sea Cymothoid (Crustacea: Isopoda)
from the Indian Ocean, with Four Species, including One New Species
Ameri
Kottarathil Helna3,4,*,§ , Panakkool Thamban Aneesh1,2,*,§ , Appukuttannair Biju Kumar4 , and Susumu Ohtsuka1,2,5
doi:-
1Graduate
School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, 5-8-1
Minato-machi, Takehara, Hiroshima 725–0024, Japan. *Correspondence:
helnahere@gmail.com (Aneesh)
E-mail: ohtsuka@hiroshima-u.ac.jp (Ohtsuka)
2Fisheries Laboratory, Blue Innovation Division, Seto
Inland Sea Carbon-neutral Research Center, Hiroshima University, 5-8-1
Minato-machi, Takehara, Hiroshima 725–0024, Japan.
3Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Kannur, Kerala,
India, 670002. *Correspondence: E-mail: aneesh@hiroshima-u.ac.jp or
anee3716@gmail.com (Helna)
4Department of Aquatic Biology & Fisheries,
University of Kerala, Karyavattom, Thiruvananthapuram-695 581, Kerala,
India. E-mail: bijupuzhayoram@gmail.com (Kumar)
5Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus,
21300 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
§AKH and PTA contributed
equally to this work.
(Received 22 November 2022 / Accepted 4 September 2023 / Published --
2023)
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan
Glyptothoa sagara gen. and sp. nov.
is described from the host fish Glyptophidium
macropus Alcock, 1894 (Ophidiidae), at depths 300 to 650 metres
from the southwest coast of India. The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of the species was
sequenced and compared with other closely related branchial cymothoid
genera. Both morphological and molecular data corroborate the inclusion
of this parasitic isopod as a new genus, and we describe Glyptothoa sagara gen. and sp. nov.
The following combinations of characters characterise the genus:
cephalon immersed in pereonite 1; dorsum vaulted; all coxae visible in
dorsal view; coxae shorter than or as long as pereonites; pereonites
4–7 slightly decrease in width towards one side, slightly asymmetrical,
lateral margins slightly constricted, in hunched side; relatively wide
pleon, with large lateral gaps between pleonites; antennula narrowly
separated by rostrum, slender, shorter than antenna; antenna with 13
articles, buccal cone obscuring antennal bases; brood pouch arising
from coxae 1–4, 6; oostegite 1 bilobed; pleopods rami all simple,
without proximomedial lamellar lobe, without folds or thickened ridges.
The adult life stages, such as females (ovigerous and non-ovigerous),
males and transitional stage of the new species are described. The
species is currently known only from the type locality and the type
host. The ecological remarks of the newly described taxon are also
provided. The following species are transferred from Elthusa Schioedte and Meinert,
1884: Glyptothoa myripristae
(Bruce, 1990) comb. nov., Glyptothoa
propinqua (Richardson, 1904) comb. nov. and Glyptothoa caudata (Schioedte and
Meinert, 1884) comb. nov.
Key words: Marine fish parasite,
Branchial cavity, Cytochrome c
oxidase subunit I, Cymothoidae, New genus, Indian Ocean, Phylogeny
Citation: Helna AK, Aneesh PT, Kumar AB,
Ohtsuka S. 2023. Morphological Description and Molecular
Characterisation of Glyptothoa
gen. nov., a Fish Parasitic Deep-sea Cymothoid (Crustacea: Isopoda)
from the Indian Ocean, with four species, including one new species.
Zool Stud 62:51.

We follow the code of the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, taxonomic papers
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