Nerocila recurvispina Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881

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 : 59

Nerocila recurvispina Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881

Nerocila recurvispina Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881: 24–25 , tab. I, figs 8, 9 . — Nierstrasz, 1931: 125. — Bruce, 1987a: 406. — Trilles, 1994: 99. — Aneesh, Valarmathi & Mitra, 2017d: 1–13, figs 1–9 .¨¨

Type and type locality. The holotype (15 mm) held at the Zoological Museum of Berlin ( ZMB 3389) coll. by Schiöedte & Meinert from Hooghly River, Kolkata, India.

Remarks. Nerocila recurvispina can be easily differentiated from other species of the genus Nerocila by the following characters: coxae 2–7 partially visible in dorsal view, produced into narrow, pointed and recurved processes directed backwards; coxae gradually increasing the size from 2–7 and reaches up to or just behind the corresponding segment; postero-lateral angles of all pereonites produced into narrow, apically pointed, acute and upwardly directed recurved spines; increasing the length of the recurved spines progressively from pereonites 1–7; ventro-lateral margins of pleonites 1 and 2 posteriorly directed, narrow and acute, extending up to pleonite 4 and beyond pleonite 5, respectively; pleonites 3–5 slightly produced; postero-lateral angles of pleonites 1 and 2 produced into narrow, apically pointed, acute and upwardly directed recurved spines; lateral margins of pleonites 3–5 faintly acute; pleotelson 1.2 times as wide as long.

The distribution of N. recurvispina is restricted to India; it was collected only from the Hooghly River, Kolkata, India, by Schiöedte & Meinert (1881) and J. Wood-Mason ( Aneesh et al. 2017d). The host fish of this species is still unknown. Recently, Aneesh et al. (2017d) provide the redescription of N. recurvispina , considering the description of its life-cycle stages (male, female, transitional and juvenile), provides key information on its parasitic and protandric hermaphroditic life, as well as important cues for the precise identification from type locality.

Distribution. Reported only from Hooghly River, Kolkata, India (type locality) ( Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881; Aneesh et al. 2017d).

Host. Unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 1. a–c, Anilocra dimidiata Bleeker, 1857, female (24 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-529); d–f, Catoessa boscii (Bleeker, 1857), female (17 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-530); g–i, Ceratothoa angulata (Richardson, 1910), female (29 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-533); j–l, Cymothoa bychowskyi Avdeev, 1979, female (27 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-87); m–o, Cymothoa eremita (Brünnich, 1783), female (29 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-532); p–r, Cymothoa frontalis Milne Edwards, 1840, female (25 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-89).

FIGURE 2. a–c, Cymothoa indica Schiöedte & Meinert, 1884, female (25 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-97); d–f, Cymothoa parupenei Avdeev, 1979, female (25 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-533); g–i, Glossobius impressus (Say, 1818) female (26.7 mm) (ZSI/MBRC D1-554); j–l, Joryma hilsae Rameshkumar et al. 2011, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-535); m–o, Joryma sawayah Bowman & Tareen, 1983, female (14 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-536); p–r, Lobothorax typus Bleeker, 1857, female (23 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-537).

FIGURE 3. a–c, Mothocya collettei Bruce, 1986, female (25 mm), (CAS/MBRM C-149); d–f, Mothocya melanosticta (Schiöedte & Meinert, 1884), female (24 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-538); g–i, Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880), female (28 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-539); j–l, Mothocya renardi (Bleeker, 1857), female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-540); m–o, Nerocila arres Bowman & Tareen, 1983, female (28 mm), (CAS/MBRM 475–476); p–r, Nerocila depressa Milne Edwards, 1840, female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-541).

FIGURE 4. Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880), female (28 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-539). a, dorsal view; b, lateral view; c, mouthpart with antennula and antenna; d, antennula; e, antenna; f, mandible; g, maxillula; h, maxilliped; i, maxilla.

FIGURE 5. Mothocya plagulophora (Haller, 1880), a, male (13 mm) (CAS/MBRM C-167) dorsal view; b–m, female (28 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-539); b–f, pereopod 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7; g–k, pleopods 1–5; l, uropod; m, brood pouch.

FIGURE 6. Nerocila depressa Milne Edwards, 1840, female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-541). a, dorsal view; b, lateral view; c, forns; d, antennula; e, antenna; f, mandible; g, maxillula; h, maxilla; i, maxilliped.

FIGURE 7. Nerocila depressa Milne Edwards, 1840, female (30 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-541). a–e, pereopods 1–3, 5 & 7; f–j, pleopods 1–5; k, uropod.

FIGURE 8. a–c, Nerocila exocoeti Pillai, 1954, female (25 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-542); d–f, Nerocila longispina Miers, 1880, female (22 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-543); g–i, Nerocila loveni Bovallius, 1887, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-544); j–l, Nerocila phaiopleura Bleeker, 1857, female (26 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-545); m–o, Nerocila poruvae Rameshkumar et al. 2011, female (24 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-546); p–r, Nerocila serra Schiöedte & Meinert, 1881, female (28 mm), (CAS/MBRM–661).

FIGURE 9. Nerocila loveni Bovallius, 1887, female (20 mm), (ZSI/MBRC D1-544). a, dorsal view; b, lateral view; c, forns; d, uropod.