Abstract
A new species of Acanthochondria Oakley, 1927 (Copepoda, Poecilostomatoida, Chondracanthidae), parasitic in the pharynx of hagfishes Eptatretus burgeri (Girard), E. sheni (Kuo, Huang & Mok) and E. yangi (Teng), from off Taiwan is described and illustrated. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by having the neck region longer than wide (about 2–3 times as long as wide), the moderately long protopod of leg 2 (Type E), the endopod of leg 2 as large as exopod, the cephalosome wider than long, the armature formula of antennule (1, 1, 2, 2, 9), the relatively long trunk (6.7 mm) and egg-sacs (14.4 mm). This is the first record of a parasitic chondracanthid from hagfishes. The findings may provide insights into the phylogenetic relationships and interactions among chondracanthids, hagfishes and demersal fishes, but call for further molecular studies.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Ju-Shey Ho (California State University, Long Beach) for his guidance and Dr Il-Hoi Kim (Kangnung National University, Korea) for providing valuable references. Project support was provided by the National Science Council (grants NSC100-2313-B-002-042 to HHS). The authors declare that all the experiments comply with the current laws of Taiwan.
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Cheng, YR., Luo, HY., Dai, CF. et al. A new species of chondracanthid copepod parasitic in the pharynx of hagfishes (Myxiniformes: Myxinidae) from off Taiwan. Syst Parasitol 88, 281–287 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-014-9501-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-014-9501-8