Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958

Uyeno, Daisuke, 2015, Systematic revision of the pennellid genus Creopelates Shiino, 1958 (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) and the proposal of a new genus, Zootaxa 3904 (3), pp. 359-386 : 361

Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958

Japanese name: Uo-no-wakizashi for both the genus and the species ( Figs 1 A, 2–3)

Creopelates floridus: Shiino, 1958 , p. 92–96

Type material. Holotype: postmetamorphic adult female (NSMT-Cr R 1225a) (dissected), ex Plectranthias sagamiensis (Katayama) ( Perciformes : Serranidae ), Kannonzukadashi, Amadaiba, Hayama, Sagami Bay, Kanagawa, North Pacific Ocean, Japan, 65 m depth, 17 January, 1957. Paratypes: 2 postmetamorphic adult females (NSMT-Cr R 1225b) (dissected), collection data same as those of holotype.

Additional material. 1 postmetamorphic adult female (NSMT-Cr R 1686), ex P. sagamiensis, Kannonzuka, Amadaiba, Hayama, Sagami Bay , North Pacific Ocean, Japan, 75 m depth, 20 January, 1960; 2 postmetamorphic adult females (NSMT-Cr R 1260), ex P. sagamiensis , Kannonzuka-dashi, Amadaiba, Hayama, Sagami Bay, North Pacific Ocean, Japan, 62–72 m depth, 13 March, 1957.

Redescription of holotype and paratype female. Body ( Fig. 2 A) 11.56–14.68 (13.31 ± 1.60) long (n = 3), comprising cephalothorax, neck region and trunk; junction of neck and trunk curved. Cephalothorax ( Fig. 2 A–C) wider than long 0.79–1.09 (0.93 ± 0.15) × 1.17–1.43 (1.27 ± 0.14), bearing paired antennary processes with multiple, irregular accessory processes, and paired posterolateral lobes expanded posteriorly with digitate processes; rostrum ( Fig. 2 D) convex with blunt tip. Neck region ( Fig. 2 A) narrow, bearing paired small digitate lobes anteriorly ( Fig. 2 A–C) and fringed with series of finely digitate lobes, arranged in about ten pairs ( Fig. 2 A); second and third pedigers clearly segmented. Trunk ( Fig. 2 A, E) pyriform, longer than wide 3.90–4.45 (4.25 ± 0.31) × 1.54–2.17 (1.77 ± 0.35), with anterior end narrowing towards neck region, with slightly protruding posterolateral corners ( Fig. 2 E). Abdomen located between paired oviducal pores ( Fig. 2 A, E, F). Egg-sacs uniseriate, spirally coiled, or single plane ( Fig. 2 A).

Antennule ( Fig. 2 G) unsegmented, bearing 19 setae along anterior margin: distal tip with 9 setae distally, 2 of which share common base, and 1 aesthetasc. Antenna ( Fig. 3 A) 3-segmented, chelate, typical pennellid; proximal segment bearing distal pointed process on posterior surface; middle segment bearing two pointed protrusions along inner medial margin, terminal segment claw like with small basal element on posterior surface. Mouth tube, maxillule, and maxilla located near base of antenna on anterior part of ventral surface of cephalothorax. Maxillule ( Fig. 3 B) comprising element with flanged distal part and one accessory seta and lobe with two distal setae. Maxilla ( Fig. 3 C) 2-segmented; proximal segment bearing single subterminal pointed process; terminal segment incompletely 2-segmented, with rounded distal part bearing spatulate fringe covered with small spinules. Maxilliped absent.

Legs 1 and 2 ( Fig. 3 D, E) biramous, situated on posterior part of cephalothorax to second pediger ( Fig. 2 C). Legs 3 and 4 ( Fig. 3 F–H) uniramous, situated on third pediger and distal part of neck, respectively. Legs 4 separated by gap from preceding legs. Armature formula of legs 1-4 as follows:

Protopod Exopod Endopod Leg 1 1–1 1–1; 7 0–1; 7 Leg 2 1–0 1–1; 7 0–1; 7 Leg 3 1–0 0–0; 6 Absent Leg 4 1–0 0–0; 5 Absent Protopods of legs 3 and 4 separated from respective intercoxal sclerites by long gaps ( Fig. 3 F, G). Attachment site. The cephalothorax and neck of the copepod were embedded in the musculature of the host’s trunk behind the base of the pectoral fin and attached to the host’s vertebrae, while its trunk and egg sacs remained outside the fish’s body wall ( Fig. 1 A).

Variability. The morphology of the non-type material is as in the type series. The measurements of the paratype (n = 1) are as follows: body length 13.51 mm; cephalothorax length 0.96; trunk length 4.41; trunk width 1.31. Remarks. This copepod is the type species of the genus Creopelates . Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958 was described based on three females obtained from Zalanthias kelloggi ( Jordan & Evermann) (= Z. azumanus ) ( Perciformes : Serranidae ) collected in Sagami Bay, Japan ( Shiino 1958). However, from the re-examination of the type host specimens of the types deposited together with the copepods in NSMT, it was revealed that they are actually Plectranthias sagamiensis (Katayama) ( Perciformes : Serranidae ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Postmetamorphic adult females of Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958 (A) and C. hoshinoi n. sp. (B) attached to their hosts. A, a specimen of Plectranthias sagamiensis (Katayama) infected by a non-type female, NSMT-Cr R 1260, of C. floridus; B, two specimens of C. hoshinoi n. sp. attached to the host, Bryaninops yongei (Davis & Cohen). Scale bars: A, 10 mm; B, 2 mm.

FIGURE 2. Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958, postmetamorphic adult female, paratype NSMT-Cr R 1225 b. A, habitus; B, cephalothorax and anterior end of neck region, dorsal; C, same, ventral, p 4 = leg 4; D, anterior part of cephalothorax with rostrum; E, trunk, ventral; F, posterior part of trunk with abdomen, ventral; G, right antennule, anterior. Scale bars: A, 2000 µm; B, C, 500 µm; D, 50 µm; E, 1000 µm; F, 200 µm; G, 20 µm.

FIGURE 3. Creopelates floridus Shiino, 1958, postmetamorphic adult female, paratype NSMT-Cr R 1225 b. A, left antenna, anterior, p = process on proximal segment; B, left maxillule, anterior; C, left maxilla, anterior; D, left leg 1 with intercoxal sclerite, anterior; E, right leg 2 with intercoxal sclerite, anterior; F, left leg 3 with intercoxal sclerite, posterior; G, left leg 4 with intercoxal sclerite, posterior; H, left leg 4, posterior. Scale bars: A – C, 20 µm; D – H, 30 µm.