Two New Parasitic Copepod Species, Clavella (Lernaeopodidae) and Haemobaphes (Pennellidae), on the Nototheniid Fish Patagonotothen cornucola (Richardson, 1844) from the Strait of Magellan, Southern Chile.

PURPOSE: The parasitic diversity on the intertidal fish of the Southern American Cone is barely known. The present study describes two new parasitic copepod species, a Clavella and a Haemobaphes found on the nototheniid fish Patagonotothen cornucola.

METHODS

The fish were collected from the intertidal zone of the Strait of Magellan, Southern Chile. The copepods were found on the fins and in the gill chamber of the fish, which were morphologically analyzed using optical and electronic microscopy.

RESULTS

Clavella cornucola sp. nov. and Clavella bowmani are similar but differ in the number of setae found on the maxillule (two setae on the inner lobe vs. three on C. bowmani), and a pad of spinules on the dorsal margin as opposed to the outer lobe (no pad vs. one pad, respectively). Haemobaphes puntaarenensis sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners based on the lobe shapes of the head and the clear separation between the pedigerous somites (first, second, and third). The maxilla on H. puntaarenensis sp. nov. lacks a pad of spinules on the second segment, but it is found in all the other congeneric species.

CONCLUSION

Clavella cornucola sp. nov. is the 10th species of the genus in Chile, whereas Haemobaphes puntaarenensis sp. nov. is the first species of the genus recorded in Chile and the Southern Cone coasts.