Description of two new species and a new genus of bopyrid isopod parasites (Bopyridae: Pseudioninae) of hermit crabs from China

Abstract

This is the first record from China of the bopyrid isopod genus Asymmetrione, of which the new species Asymmetrione globifera, a parasite of the hermit crab Dardanus hessii (Miers) in Beibu Gulf and South China Sea, is described. The female A. globifera differs from Asymmetrione nossibensis Bourdon in the shape of its barbula and ornamentation of the first oostegite. A tabulation of the occurrence of all currently known species of Asymmetrione is included. New genus Parasymmetrione is described. The type species, Parasymmetrione tuberculineata, sp. nov., a parasite of Clibanarius corallinus (H. Milne-Edwards) Xisha, is similar in appearance to Asymmetrione spp. but differs, in the female, in not having the propodi of its pereopods produced into sockets and having uniramous uropoda; the male of P. tuberculineata sp. nov. differs from species of Asymmetrione in having the dactyli of only its first pair of pereopods markedly longer than those of the following pereopods.

Keywords:

• Isopoda
• Bopyridae
• Asymmetrione
• Parasymmetrione
• new genus
• new species
• China

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Shanxi Province Soft Science Foundation. (No.2009041034-05). The authors would like to thank Prof. J.Y. Liu (Ruiyu Liu, IOCAS) and Prof. Xinzheng Li (IOCAS) for their guidance in this study and are grateful for the helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers. We are indebted to Dr Yongliang Wang (IOCAS) for his identification of the hosts and to Dr Patsy A. McLaughlin (Shannon Point Marine Center, Western Washington University) for information on the current names of hermit crab species. Thanks are also due to all collectors of the China/Vietnam Comprehensive Oceanographic Survey to Beibu Gulf.