Mothocya karobran Bruce, 1986

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 : 38

Mothocya karobran Bruce, 1986

Mothocya karobran Bruce, 1986: 1149–1152 , figs 34–36.— Kazmi, Schotte & Yousuf, 2002: 101, fig. 83.— Rameshkumar, Ravichandran & Sivasubramanian, 2014d: 328–330, figs 1, 2.

Types and locality. Holotype, held at The Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ( QM W11726), refer to Jumpinpin , Moreton Bay, southeastern Queensland, Australia.

Remarks. This species can be recognized by the acute lateral margins of the pleonites, relatively long uropods with a slender endopod, and the rectangular appearance of the posterior coxal plates. The general appearance is of being broadest anteriorly (pereonite 3 is widest), with the cephalon deeply immersed into pereonite 1. Mothocya karobran can be distinguished from other Indian Mothocya species by the characteristically short body, pereonite 1 smooth, anterior border deeply indented to surround cephalon, anterolateral angle wide with an inwardly produced point; posterior margins of pereonites smooth and straight. Pleotelson long as anterior width, lateral margins converging slightly to broadly rounded.

Mothocya collettei is the most similar species but can be separated by a less evenly rounded pleotelson, narrower and almost subrectangular posterior coxal plates, and distinctly longer uropods, the rami of which reach the distal margin of pleotelson.

Colour. Females with few chromatophores on the dorsal surface of cephalon, antennula and antenna, and at the base of oostegites; males with scattered chromatophores over dorsum and sternum ( Bruce 1986).

Size. Ovig. females 18.5–32.0 mm; non ovig. females 20–30 mm; males 15.0–19.5 mm ( Bruce 1986).

Distribution. Recorded from the eastern and northern Australia, from Lake Macquarie, NSW, along with the Queensland coast (mainland and Great Barrier Reef) to the Northern Territory ( Bruce 1986) recently reported from the northern Arabian Sea ( Kazmi et al, 2002). Recent records are from the southeast coast of India ( Rameshkumar et al. 2014d).

Host. Mothocya karobran were only recorded from the family Belonidae : Tylosurus gavialoides (Castelnau, 1873) (as Strongylura gavialoides ) ( Bruce 1986), Strongylura leiura (Bleeker, 1850) ( Bruce 1986; Kazmi et al. 2002) and Strongylura strongylura (van Hasselt, 1823) ( Rameshkumar et al. 2014d) . Bruce (1986) suggesting that the S. leiura is not the normal host of Mothocya karobran .