Anathelges cf. hyptius (Thompson, 1902)

Pardo, Luis Miguel, Boyko, Christopher B. & Mantelatto, Fernando L., 2009, Description of a new species of Asymmetrione (Isopoda: Bopyridae: Pseudioninae) infesting the hermit crab Paguristes tomentosus (Anomura: Diogenidae) from Peru, with a key to species and a review of southeastern Pacific bopyrids, Journal of Natural History 43 (33 - 34), pp. 2041-2055 : 2052

Anathelges cf. hyptius (Thompson, 1902)

Remarks

A single pair with a juvenile female were found attached to the dorsal abdominal region of Pagurus villosus hosts during a year-round survey of hermit crabs in Central Chile ( Pardo et al. 2007), but were unfortunately lost in a fire at one of our collection labs (LMP); photographs of the specimens are still extant but are too poor for publication. The characters of the juvenile female specimen, particularly the pleotelson shape, appear similar to those seen on the female holotype of A. thompsoni (see earlier), while the pleotelson of the mature female resembles that of A. hyptius adult females. Previous records of A. hyptius cover a wide range of the North and South American Atlantic coasts, parasitizing several species of Pagurus and Iridopagurus ( Boyko and Williams 2003) from Massachusetts, USA to Curaçao, and a similar, perhaps identical, species was collected in the Beagle Channel ( Argentina) as the south- ernmost locality recorded for any member of the genus ( Diaz and Roccatagliata 2006). If the present material proves to be identical with the true A. hyptius , this would constitute the first record in Pacific waters, as well as a new host record. If the Chilean material is distinct from A. hyptius , it may represent A. thompsoni (see earlier) that was described from a possibly juvenile female and adult male, and would provide the first host identification for this species. It is also possible that the Chilean and Argentinean Anathelges material are conspecific but distinct from the northern Atlantic specimens of A. hyptius . As the Chilean specimens are lost, more collection must be done along with detailed comparison of northern Atlantic material, Argentinean, and Chilean specimens. Prevalence of A. cf. hyptius in P. villosus was much lower 0.07% (n = 2751) than even the low numbers recorded from Pagurus comptus White, 1847 , from Patagonian waters (0.5%, n = 3143) ( Diaz and Roccatagliata 2006).