Caligus confusus Pillai, 1961

Soler-Jimenez, Lilia C., Morales-Serna, F. Neptali, Aguirre-Macedo, Ma. Leopoldina, McLaughlin, John P., Jaramillo, Alejandra G., Shaw, Jenny C., James, Anna K., Hechinger, Ryan F., Kuris, Armand M., Lafferty, Kevin D. & Vidal-Martinez, Victor M., 2019, Parasitic copepods (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) on fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific, ZooKeys 833, pp. 85-106 : 85

Caligus confusus Pillai, 1961

Type host.

Caranx ignobilis (as C. sansun ) ( Carangidae ).

Other host and localities.

Alepes djedaba ( Forsskål) from Durban; Caranx caballus ( Günther) and Caranx caninus ( Günther) from Mexican Pacific and Ecuador; Caranx djedaba ( Forsskål) from Durban, South Africa and Sri Lanka; Caranx hippos (Linnaeus) from Galapagos Islands and Panama; Caranx ignobilis from Taiwan, Indian and Australia; Caranx melampygus Cuvier from Eniwetok Atoll and Taiwan; Caranx sexfasciatus Quoy & Gaimard from South Africa, Taiwan, Indonesia and Australia; Caranx sp. from Celebes and New Caledonia (all Carangidae ); Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus ( Coryphaenidae ) from Galapagos Islands and Panama; Decapterus sp. ( Carangidae ) from Tonkin Gulf, Vietnam; Elagatis bipinnulata (Quoy & Gaimard) ( Carangidae ) from Galapagos Islands, Panama, India and Taiwan; Elagatis sp. from Celebes; Epinephelus tauvina ( Forsskål) ( Serranidae ) from Kuwait; Rhabdosargus holubi (Steindachner) ( Sparidae ) from South Africa; Seriola dumerili (Risso) ( Carangidae ) from Taiwan; Seriola sp. ( Carangidae ) from Colombia ( Kabata 1968, Grobler et al. 2003, Ho and Lin 2004, Yuniar et al. 2007, Kazachenko et al. 2014, Morales-Serna et al. 2014, 2015, Boxshall 2018).

Current host.

Carangoides ferdau ( Forsskål), Carangoides orthogrammus (Jordan & Gilbert), Caranx ignobilis , Caranx melampygus and Caranx papuensis Alleyne & MacLeay (all Carangidae ).

Site of infection.

Gills.

Prevalence and mean intensity.

40 and 2 (n = 5) to Carangoides ferdau , 33.3 and 6 (n = 3) to Carangoides orthogrammus , 75 and 12.7 ± 12.2 (n = 4) to Caranx ignobilis ; 33.3 and 2 (n = 6) to Caranx melampygus ; 40 and 4 (n = 5) to Caranx papuensis .

Specimens deposited.

CHCM No. 562 (voucher) (1 vial, 1 specimen ♀) (from Caranx ignobilis ), CHCM No. 563 (voucher) (1 vial, 2 specimens ♂ ♀) (from Caranx papuensis ), USNM No. 1550598 (voucher) (1 vial, 1 specimen ♀) (from Caranx ignobilis ).

Remarks.

The genus Caligus contains approximately 250 species. According to Ho and Lin (2004), before the establishment of C. confusus , specimens of this species were confused with Caligus productus (as Caligus alalongae ) Dana, 1852 and Caligus constrictus Heller, 1865. However, these authors pointed out nine characteristics known only for C. confusus . The morphology of our specimens (♂ and ♀) fits with the description of Ho and Lin (2004). Additionally, based on the examination of the present material and also that from previous surveys in the Eastern Pacific ( Morales-Serna et al. 2014, 2015), we suggest that the shape of the first segment of the antenna and sternal furca may be useful in identifying C. confusus . Clearly, C. confusus has high affinity for carangid fish; nonetheless, this parasite can also be found on fish from different families. To date, it is distributed in tropical waters of the Eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific, with no records for the Atlantic Ocean.