Anuretes grandis sp . n . ,

A new species of caligid copepod (Siphonostomatoida), Anuretes grandis sp. n., parasitic on the painted sweetlips [Diagramma pictum (Thunberg)] in Taiwan is described. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having: (1) free margin of cephalothorax not covering fourth pediger, (2) large genital complex longer than 2/3 of the cephalic shield, (3) no maxillary whip, (4) leg 3 with 9 setae on the terminal segment of exopod and 8 plumose setae on the terminal segment of endopod, and (5) armature of I,III on leg 4 exopod. Genus Anuretes Heller, 1865 is reviewed and redefined. Based on the new diagnosis three species (A. chelatus Prabha et Pillai, A. fedderni Price and A. parvulus Wilson) were transferred to Pseudanuretes, and two species (A. furcatus Capart and A. renalis Heegaard) were transferred to Lepeophtheirus. In addition, the following three species of caligids were transferred to Anuretes: Lepeophtheirus fallolunulus Lewis, Heniochophilus indicus Pillai, and Lepeophtheirus rotundigenitalis Prabha et Pillai. The latter is renamed Anuretes occultus nom. n. due to the homonym encountered through this transfer. “Anuretes plectorhynchi Yamaguti” reported by Prabha and Pillai (1986) is renamed Anuretes similis sp. n. and Anuretes yamagutii Prabha et Pillai is relegated to the synonym of Anuretes anomalus Pillai. A key to the 18 species of Anuretes is provided. Although more than 200 species of marine fishes are caught for food from the waters of Taiwan, only about 15% of them have so far been examined for copepod parasites. In order to narrow this gap, we launched in 1997 a survey of commercial fishes for their copepod parasites. Up till now, we have obtained parasitic copepods from 67 of the 90 species of fishes examined. In this paper we shall report a new species of Anuretes recovered from the gills of painted sweetlips [Diagramma pictum (Thunberg)]. In their fourth part of report on the copepod parasites of the marine fishes of India, Prabha and Pillai (1986) reported seven species of Anuretes with four of them new to science. However, close examination of their report revealed that “Anuretes chelatus sp. nov.” is a species of Pseudanuretes, “Anuretes yamagutii sp. nov.” a misidentification for Anuretes anomalus Pillai, 1967, and “Anuretes plectorhynchi Yamaguti” a new species. Such mistakes are considered chiefly due to the ambiguity of the definition of the genus Anuretes. Thus, we shall take the opportunity of describing the first species of Anuretes from Taiwan to give a general discussion of the genus and also to provide a key to the known species. MATERIALS AND METHODS The fish hosts – painted sweetlips [Diagramma pictum (Thunberg)] – were purchased from the Mi-Tuo Fishing Port in Kaohsiung County of Taiwan and transferred in an icebox to National Chiayi Institute of Technology where the laboratory examination for parasites was carried out. The copepod parasites removed from the fish hosts were preserved in 70% ethanol. They were later cleared in 85% lactic acid for 1 to 2 h before dissection in a drop of lactic acid on a wooden slide (Humes and Gooding 1964). The removed body parts and appendages were examined under the compound microscope with a series of magnifications up to ×1,500. All drawings were made with the aid of a camera lucida.