Pennella balaenoptera Koren & Danielssen, 1877

Zeng, Qianhui & Lin, Yejie, 2023, New records of parasitic copepod (Crustacea, Siphonostomatoida, Pennellidae) found on the body surface of two cetacean species in China, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 98914-98914 : 98914

Pennella balaenoptera Koren & Danielssen, 1877

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: 6 females; occurrenceID: DAA4F37B-61EF-5926-AAF9-1FDF6957D477; Taxon: scientificName: Pennella balaenoptera; nameAccordingTo: Koren, J. & D.C. Danielssen. (1877). En ny Art af Slaegten Pennella. (A new species of the genus Pennella). Fauna Littoralis Norvegiae. 3:157-163, pl.16, figs.1-9.; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Copepoda; order: Siphonostomatoida; family: Pennellidae; genus: Pennella; taxonRank: species; taxonomicStatus: accepted; Location: continent: Asia; country: China; stateProvince: Zhejiang; county: Wenzhou, Rui'an; locality: Mudflat ; verbatimLatitude: 27.7099°N; verbatimLongitude: 120.7231°E; Event: year: 2021; month: 7; day: 27; verbatimEventDate: 27-07-2021; eventRemarks: the material is found parasitic on a stranded Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni); Record Level: institutionID: IZCAS-Ar43739-Ar 43744 Type status: Other material. Occurrence: sex: 2 females; occurrenceID: 9AD 18284-D7A6-5CDC-A2BA-CFE578576A1A; Taxon: scientificName: Pennella balaenoptera; nameAccordingTo: Koren, J. & D.C. Danielssen. (1877). En ny Art af Slaegten Pennella. (A new species of the genus Pennella). Fauna Littoralis Norvegiae. 3:157-163, pl.16, figs.1-9.; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Copepoda; order: Siphonostomatoida; family: Pennellidae; genus: Pennella; taxonRank: species; taxonomicStatus: accepted; Location: continent: Asia; country: China; stateProvince: Guangdong; county: Shenzhen, Xichong; locality: Sandy beach ; verbatimLatitude: 22.4875°N; verbatimLongitude: 114.5568°E; Event: year: 2022; month: 5; day: 21; verbatimEventDate: 21-05-2022; eventRemarks: the material is found parasitic on a stranded pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps); Record Level: institutionID: IZCAS-Ar43745-Ar43746

Description

These parasites were rooted in the host bodies by elongated anchor-like structures, which passed through the blubber and the skin (Fig. 3 A, B) with their ends exposed, leaving small round holes on the body surface (Fig. 3 C).

One specimen (IZCAS-Ar43746) (Fig. 4 C):

"Head": 3.64 long, 4.12 wide; Holdfast horns: left 11.32 long, 2.02 wide; right 15.23 long, 1.62 wide; dorsal 11.53 long, 1.51 wide; "Neck": 43.61 long, 1.47 wide; Trunk: 40.53 long, 3.64 wide; Abdomen: 29.64 long.

Colouration. Specimens cephalothorax yellow; neck, trunk and abdomen dark brown in ethanol. Divided into three regions: cephalothorax, carapace and abdomen. Ovisacs missing.

Cephalothorax. Divided into cephalic and thoracic regions, separated by a constricted region between the two parts. Cephalic region spherical, slightly wider than long, abdominal side to the front mask mastoid, with dense, different sized spherical mastoid branches (Fig. 5 ), the anterior side of the mastoid area has a mouth centrally; the abdominal surface has a slender depression in the middle with two pairs of antennae inside the depression, which are extremely small (Fig. 5 A, Fig. 6 A); the first pair of antennae three segmented, whisker-like, different in length, terminal with conspicuous setae, second pair of antennae two-segmented, with pincers at the end (Fig. 6 B). The anterior part of the dorsal thoracic region with four pairs of reduced swimming legs, paddle-shaped. The first two pairs closely spaced, terminal with rami, the rami of first pair of swimming legs two-segmented, with conspicuous setae, the rami come off the second pair of swimming legs; the last two pairs are unbranched and widely spaced, about five times the spacing between the first two pairs of legs (Fig. 6 C). Three holdfast horns, digitiform.

Thoracic region. The neck, the longest part of this region extremely elongated with a wider trunk and accounts for 72% of the body, transversely striated, the orifices of the oviducts appear at the posterior end of the trunk, crescent-shaped (Fig. 7 A).

Abdomen. Cylindrical, with lateral, feather-like processes. Each of these feather-like processes has a different shape (Fig. 7 B, C).

Ovisacs missing.

Biology

Hosts: Balaenoptera edeni , 6.85 m long; Kogia breviceps , 2.52 m long.

Figures

Figure 3. Pennella balaenoptera; A. Body; B. Head anchorage area; C. Body through epidermal trace.

Figure 4. Habitus of Pennella balaenoptera; A. Dorsal view; B, C. Ventral view.

Figure 5. Cephalic region of Pennella balaenoptera; A. Ventral view; B. Dorsal view.

Figure 6. Antennary region and swimming legs region of Pennella balaenoptera; A. Antennary region; B. Second antenna of Pennella balaenoptera, dorsal view; C. swimming legs region.

Figure 7. Oviduct orices (A) and abdominal plumes (B, C) of Pennella balaenoptera.