Sea lice (Copepoda: Caligidae) from South Africa,with descriptions of two new species of Caligus

Systematic Parasitology - Thirteen species of sea lice (family Caligidae) are reported from a range of elasmobranch and actinopterygian fishes caught off South Africa or obtained from public...     

The discovery of Lepeophtheirus lichiae Barnard, 1948 (Copepoda: Caligidae) parasitic on leerfish,Lichia amia (Linnaeus) in the Mediterranean Sea

Systematic Parasitology - Lepeophtheirus lichiae Barnard, 1948 (Copepoda: Caligidae), a very rare and poorly known sea louse, is redescribed based on a single newly collected female. The specimen...     

Caligus tunisiensis n. sp. (Copepoda: Caligidae) parasitic on the painted comber Serranus scriba (L.) (Perciformes: Serranidae) from the Mediterranean Sea,off the Tunisian coast

Systematic Parasitology - A new species of parasitic copepod, Caligus tunisiensis n. sp. (Caligidae), is described based on two female specimens collected from the gills of the painted comber,...     

The re-discovery of Caligus lichiae Brian, 1906 (Copepoda: Caligidae) parasitic on two carangid fishes in the Mediterranean Sea,and the recognition of Caligus aesopus Wilson C. B., 1921 as a junior subjective synonym

Systematic Parasitology - The caligid copepod Caligus lichiae Brian, 1906 is redescribed based on new material collected from the type-host, Lichia amia (Linnaeus), and from a second carangid,...     

A morphometrical study of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of the genus Carabodes C.L. Koch, 1835 (Carabodidae) using a confocal laser scanning microscope: an alternative approach to quantitative analysis of various features

In the past, micro-arthropod taxonomists have mainly relied on qualitative characters to identify species, and relatively little attention has been paid to quantitative analysis. However, several taxonomic groups have high morphological variability, which creates problems in identification. Quantitative analysis of morphometrical data of specific characters could aid in understanding differences in the morphology of oribatid species. In this respect, confocal laser scanning microscopy and quantitative analysis were used to describe morphological traits of four oribatid mite species belonging to the genus Carabodes Koch, 1835—C. femoralis (Nicolet, 1855), C. labyrinthicus (Michael, 1879), C. ornatus Storkan, 1925 and C. subarcticus Trägårdh, 1902. All specimens were collected in Latvia. Thirteen morphological traits were measured for 838 adult individuals. The same traits were also measured with transmitted light microscopy, and results were compared. The impact of a number of environmental factors on traits was also assessed. High interspecific variability in size of most morphological features was observed. In many cases, sizes of the measured features correlated between different species. The ranges in length of notogastral setae p3 and h3 of C. femoralis did not overlap with those of C. labyrinthicus or C. ornatus. Significant correlations between body length and size of setal structures, as well as between setal structures, were detected. Size of morphological features was directly affected by the cover of lichens, a main food resource for Carabodes, and indirectly by the effect of soil moisture on lichen communities.     

The discovery of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caligus</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">temnodontis</Emphasis> Brian, 1924 (Copepoda: Caligidae) from the bluefish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pomatomus saltatrix</Emphasis> (Linnaeus) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

The temnodontis variety of Caligus mauritanicus Brian, 1924 described by Brian (1924) is a valid species known only from a single host species, Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus). New material of this species has been examined from the same host fish caught from Abuqir Bay, Alexandria (Egypt), from Iskenderun Bay (Turkey) and from off the coast of South Africa. Using this material, C. temnodontis Brian, 1924 is redescribed and compared with related species. It is most closely related to the Indo-Pacific species C. pagrosomi Yamaguti, 1939.