A new species of branchial fish parasitic isopod, Norileca Bruce, 1990 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothoidae), from the Andaman Islands, India

ABSTRACT

Norileca hathai Aneesh, Nashad and Kumar sp. nov., parasitizing the blacktip trevally, Caranx heberi (Bennett, 1830) (Carangidae) from off Burmanallah, South Andaman, India is described and illustrated. Norileca hathai sp. nov., the fourth species of Norileca Bruce, 1990, is characterized by: body twisted to one side; small body size (10–12 mm); dark stripes on pereonites 5–7, pleonites 1–5 and pleotelson, except the medial and posterio-lateral margins; coxae 3–7, 0.5 times as long as pereonites; presence of robust setae on the propodus of pereopods 1–3; pleotelson round and 0.85 as long as wide; uropod 0.85 as long as pleotelson; maxilla both lobes with 2 robust setae. A table of the inter-specific characters between the species of Norileca Bruce, 1990 and a revised key to the species are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Fish parasite
• Indian Ocean
• Norileca hathai sp. nov
• Cymothoidae
• Indian EEZ

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the DS Kothari Post-Doctoral Fellowship of University Grants Commission, New Delhi (No. F.4-2/2006 (BSR)/BL/16-17/0401; dated: 28 August 2017) awarded to PTA. We extend our sincere thanks to Dr Niel L. Bruce, and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable suggestions/revision/discussions on the MS revision. The authors are thankful to Director General, Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai and to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for their encouragement and support during the study.

Authors’ contributions

PTA is the main worker on the topic, erected and described the species, worked on illustrations and pictures and prepared the manuscript. PTA and AB conceived and designed research, critically reviewed for improving the quality of the manuscript. MN and KB conducted the fieldwork and host identification. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, through Post-doctoral Fellowship to PTA (No.F.4-2/2006 (BSR)/BL/16-17/0401; dated: 28August 2017).