Rocinela signata (Isopoda: Aegidae) parasitizing Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

ABSTRACT

Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans (hereafter lionfish), introduced to the Western Atlantic, has shown a low susceptibility to parasitic infection in its invaded range. This study documented isopod Rocinela signata (Aegidae) parasitizing lionfish in two localities off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Out of 663 lionfish collected by fishermen in September and October 2017, 21 were infected with 31 isopods. In Cayo Arenas, R. signata showed a prevalence of 2.78%, mean abundance of 0.04, and a mean intensity of infection of 1.5 SD ± 0.6, varying from 1 to 3 isopods per host. In Alacranes Reef, it showed a prevalence of 3.88%, mean abundance of 0.05, and a mean intensity of infection of 1.4 SD ± 1.01, varying from 1 to 4 isopods per host. Rocinella signata showed a total prevalence, mean abundance, and mean intensity of infection of 3.16%, 0.03, 1.48 SD ± 0.81, respectively. It is remarkable that R. signata was the only isopod parasitizing lionfish examined during this work. This is the first record of prevalence, mean abundance, and mean intensity of infection of R. signata on lionfish from the southern Gulf of Mexico.

SUBJECT EDITOR:

• David Thieltges

KEYWORDS:

• Indo-Pacific lionfish
• parasitic isopod
• Gulf of Mexico
• Alacranes Reef
• Cayo Arenas

Acknowledgements

The authors thank marine biology undergraduate students from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán for processing lionfish samples: Mariana Ramírez-Marín, Maury Jiménez-Canché, Juan Pablo Ku-Martin, Mauro Tello-Segura, Diego Chale-Chale, Sirma Vega-Gueroguieva, Daniela Rojas-Cano, Emiliano Gerónimo-Salaya, Sandra Torres-Martínez, Ixchel Ceballos-Ancona, Guadalupe Villamonte-Cab, and Andrea Villarreal-Caballero. We thank Luis Quijano-Puerto, Alberto Cen-López, and lobster fishermen from the Alacranes Reef for providing samples, especially Mariano Canul-Uicab. Cristian Aguilar-Perera helped assembling Figure 1. Thanks to the Alacranes Reef National Park authority (Cristóbal Cáceres-G.Cantón) and Fundación UADY.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

A. Aguilar-Perera http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-2183

Additional information

Funding

The lionfish project was possible due to financial support by the Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP).