Caligus murrayanus Scott, T., 1894

Hayes, Polly, Justine, Jean-Lou & Boxshall, Geoffrey A., 2012, The genus Caligus Müller, 1785 (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida): two new species from reef associated fishes in New Caledonia, and some nomenclatural problems resolved, Zootaxa 3534, pp. 21-39 : 33

Caligus murrayanus Scott, T., 1894 and C. bengoensis Scott, T., 1894

In his report on the Entomostraca collected on board the steamer Buccaneer in the Gulf of Guinea, Thomas Scott (1894) reported four species of Caligus . Three of them were new, C. murrayanus , C. bengoensis and C. dubius , and one was an existing species, C. (?) thymni Dana, 1853 . Material of three of these species is preserved in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London. Caligus dubius Scott, 1894 was redescribed from the type series by Boxshall & Gurney (1980). The text description and the specimen figured by Scott (1894: pl. XIV, fig. 22) relate to C. dubius . However, there is confusion over the remaining three species because the figure numbers have been confused and do not match the text descriptions.

The specimen identified as Caligus (?) thymni in the text is in a vial in the collections labelled as C. thymni (Reg. No. BMNH 93.4.22.99) but the figure of this specimen ( Scott, 1894: pl. XIV, fig. 19) is incorrectly labelled as Caligus murrayanus in the figure captions (p. 159) and in the figure citation given in the text (p. 129). This specimen is readily identifiable as a male of C. coryphaenae .

The male specimen described as Caligus bengoensis in the text is in a vial labelled “ Caligus murrayi type ” (Reg. No. BMNH 93.4.22.98) but the figure of this male ( Scott, 1894: pl. XIV, fig. 21) is incorrectly labelled as Caligus thymni both in the figure captions (p. 159) and in the figure citation in the text (p. 130). This specimen is readily identifiable as a male of Caligus affinis Heller, 1866 , following the revision of the productus -group by Boxshall & El-Rashidy (2009). Giving priority to the text description indicates that C. bengoensis Scott, 1894 should be treated as a synonym of C. affinis , not C. coryphaenae as noted by numerous authors (see Margolis et al., 1975).

The female specimen described as Caligus murrayanus in the text is not in the collections: its whereabouts are unknown. However, the figure of this female ( Scott, 1894: pl. XIV, fig. 20) is incorrectly labelled as Caligus bengoensis both in the figure captions (p. 159) and in the figure citation in the text (p. 130). Giving priority to the text description indicates that C. murrayanus Scott, 1894 is based on the female figured in Scott’s plate XIV, figure 20. In the absence of the type specimen and of any information on host taxon, it is not possible to identify C. murrayanus with certainty. It is treated here as a species inquirendum.