Nerocila benrosei n. sp. (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), an external parasite of hogfishes from the Northern Bahamas

Nerocila benrosei n. sp. is described from the hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus (Walbaum), the Spanish hogfish, Bodianus rufus (Linnaeus), (Perciformes: Labridae) from the Northern Bahamas. Nerocila benrosei differs from all species of Nerocila by having the body of females 1.4 to 1.9 times as wide, as long, instead of 2.0 - 3.0 times) and pleopods 1 and 2 lacking accessory lamellae. It differs from the only species of Nerocila with which it overlaps geographically, N. lanceolata (Say, 1818), by having the lateral margins of pleonites 1-5 strongly produced ventrally, coxae 5-7 manifestly shorter than the posterolateral projection of the respective pereonite, and a vaulted dorsal surface. The species of Nerocila in the northwestern Atlantic have almost mutually exclusive geographic ranges: New England to Panama, including Bermuda and the northern coast of Cuba (Nerocila lanceolata); Brazil to Trinidad and Tobago (Nerocila fluviatilis Schiodte and Meinert, 1881); and the northern Bahamas and Bermuda (Nerocila benrosei). No species of Nerocila have been reported from the insular Caribbean. Nerocila benrosei appears to be highly host and site specific. (AU)

Ergasilid copepods (Poecilostomatoida) from the gills of primitive Mugilidae (grey mullets)

All representatives of the subfamily Agonostominae of grey mullets in the collections of The Natural History Museum in London were examined for parasitic copepods. Agonostomus monticola, Joturus pichardi, Aldrichetta forsteri and Cestraeus goldiei. Three new species of Acusicola and two new species of Ergasilus were found: E. parabahiensis n. sp. on A. monticola from Guyana and E. acusicestraeus n. sp. on C. goldiei from Papua New Guinea. Acusicola spinuloderma n. sp. was found on A. monticola and J. pichardi collected from different localities in Central America, A. mazatlanesis n. sp. on the same host from West Mexico (Mazatlan) and A. joturicola n. sp. on J. pichardi from Panama. Descriptions of E. australiensis Roubal, from Aldrichetta forsteri, are presented. The host-parasite relationships and geographical distributions of hosts and their parasitic copepods are analyzed. (AU)