Anilocra nemipteri Bruce, 1987

Martin, Melissa B., Tuah, Alia, Muhamad, Juariah H. & Bruce, Niel L., 2022, A review of the family Cymothoidae (Isopoda: Cymothooidea) infesting marine fishes from Malaysian waters, with new host and geographical records, Zootaxa 5222 (1), pp. 1-36 : 4-5

Anilocra nemipteri Bruce, 1987

( Fig. 1 A–D )

Anilocra nemipteri Bruce, 1987a: 106–108 .—Strong & Binning, 2013: 330–333.— Binning, Roche & Layton, 2013: 1–4.

Type material. Female holotype, Museum of Victoria ( NMV 112947 ). For a list of paratypes and other material examined refer to Bruce (1987a).

Type locality. Northwest Shelf , Western Australia.

Type host. Recorded from Nemipterus virgatus (Houttuyn, 1782) .

Material examined. 13 ovig ♀ (range: 12.40 mm TL, mean: 24.5 mm TL; range: 4.51 mm W, mean: 8.25 mm W) ( UMT Crus 01135, 01136, 01138, 01139, 01140, 01141, 01144, 01145, 01151, 01152, 01154, 01156, 01157) 4 mature ♁ (range: 6.81 mm TL, mean: 17.36 mm TL; range: 2.71 mm W, mean: 5.24 mm W) ( UMT Crus 01137, 01142, 01143, 01159), 7 juveniles ♁ (range: 1.46 mm TL, mean: 10.49 mm TL; range: 1.19 mm W, mean: 4.27 mm W) ( UMT Crus 01146, 01147, 01148, 01149, 01150, 01153, 01155), located at the South China Sea EEZ, leg 1, station 15 (06º 55’ 85” N; 103º 34’ 56” E) and station 10 (07º 04’ 00” N; 103º 40’ 47” E), 13 May 2016; attached to the upper dorsal skin of Nemipterus nemurus ( Bleeker, 1857) , Nemipterus nematophorus (Bleeker, 1854) , Nemipterus tambuloides (Bleeker, 1853) , and Nemipterus thosaporni Russell, 1991 , coll. crew of MV SEAFDEC 2016.

Hosts. Nemipteridae and Pomacentridae in Bruce (1987a): Nemipterus virgatus (Houttuyn, 1782) , Nemipterus tolu [currently known as Nemipterus peronii (Valenciennes, 1830) ], Scolopsis bilineatus (Bloch, 1793) , Scolopsis margaritifer (Cuvier, 1830) , Scolopsis monogramma (Cuvier, 1830) , Pentapodus setosus (Valenciennes, 1830) , Pomacentrus jerdoni [= Pristotis obtusirostris (Ģnther, 1862)].

Distribution. Australia, North West Shelf, Gulf of Carpentaria, Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Palm Group, ( Bruce 1987a); Malaysia, Terengganu (current study).

Remarks. Anilocra nemipteri is reported from Malaysian waters for the first time. It is readily recognised by a broad ovate body shape; short antennula and antenna; weakly developed pereopod nodules on dactylus anterior margin; pleonite 1 long with posteriorly directed posterolateral margins; very dark brown to pale tan on life and preserved specimens ( Bruce 1987a).

Anilocra nemipteri is host-specific to the families Nemipteridae and Pomacentridae . Bruce (1987a) listed seven host species from the genera Nemipterus , Scolopsis , Pentapodus and Pomacentrus . During the MV SEAFDEC 2016 expedition, the crew collectively sampled these cymothoids from four new host species: Nemipterus nemurus , Nemipterus nematophorus , Nemipterus tambuloides , and Nemipterus thosaporni .

This species has been little reported since its description from eastern Australia ( Bruce 1987a) and the range is now extended to Malaysia. Roche et al. (2013) reported the prevalence (4.3%; range= 0–28%) of Anilocra nemipteri infecting the bridled monocle bream Scolopsis bilineatus on reefs around Lizard Island on the northern Great Barrier Reef. Binning et al. (2013) used this species as a model parasite to exhibit that parasitised fish have higher standard metabolic rates (SMRs), poorer aerobic capacities and lower maximum swimming speeds than non-parasitised fish, adding that a model parasite did not significantly affect SMR, it reduced swimming speed and increased oxygen consumption rates in naturally parasitised fish. This establishes that ectoparasites create drag effects that are important in active swimming.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Anilocra nemipteri Bruce, 1987.A, dorsal view; B, ventral view, ovigerous female, 28.99 mm, (UMT Crus 01135); C, dorsal view; D, ventral view, male (12.96 mm), (UMT Crus 01137). Scale: 5 mm.