Description of <I>Pennella Filosa</I> L. (Copepoda: Pennellidae) on The
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BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 40(1): 59-62,1987 DESCRIPTION OF PENNELLA FILOSA L. (COPEPODA: PENNELLIDAE) ON THE OCEAN SUNFISH (MOLA MOLA L.) IN THE BAY OF FUNDY William E. Hogans ABSTRACT Pennellafilasa L. is described from a single adult female specimen recovered from the flesh of the ocean sunfish (Mala mala L.) captured in the Bay of Fundy. Morphological differences between this specimen and other previously described specimens of P. filasa are discussed. Pennella iilosa L. is a large mesoparasitic copepod found in the flesh of several species of pelagic marine fishes. The cephalothorax, lateral and dorsal horn hold- fasts and a portion of the neck are embedded in the musculature, and the trunk, abdominal brush and egg strings remain outside the body. The species is circum- polar in distribution, and though often reported, little is known of its life history and morphology. The genus Pennella Oken, 1816 currently contains 31 species reported from the musculature of teleost fishes and cetaceans. Many were poorly or incompletely described. There are no descriptions for a few species; their distinctness as separate species was based solely on differing host species. In this paper, I describe P. filosa from the ocean sunfish, Mola mola L., captured in the Bay of Fundy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Description of P. filasa herein is based on a single adult female (males are unknown) recovered from the flesh of an ocean sunfish captured in a weir net set for Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus L.) at Maces Bay, New Brunswick, in August 1976. The copepod was dissected from the flesh, fixed in 40% isopropyl alcohol and stored in 70% ethanol. One each of the first and second antennae were dissected from the cephalothorax, dehydrated in 100% ethanol and cleared in methyl salicylate to reveal structure. Figures were drawn with the aid of a camera lucida or drawing tube at magnifications of 20 to 500 x. Measurements are in millimeters, unless otherwise noted. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The specimen of P. iilosa (Fig. 1) was found embedded in the flesh near the base ofthe dorsal fin. A description is as follows: Pennellidae: cephalothorax (Fig. 2a, b) subspherical with flattened and truncate anterior end, length 5.1; width 7.1. Entire surface of anterior end covered by spherical to knob-like papillae. Papillae at outer margin twice size of those at center. First antennae (Fig. 3) on dorsal surface of cephalothorax mid-way between anterior and posterior margins; in- distinctly three-segmented, setose. Second antennae (Fig. 4) close to, and anterior to, first; two-segmented and chelate. Mouth tube small, indistinctly siphonostome; situated at center of anterior end of cephalothorax buried between groups of papillae. Mandibles, first and second maxillae and maxillipeds absent. Swimming legs on ventral surface near posterior margin of cephalothorax; four pairs, first and second biramous pairs close together, separated from third and fourth uni- ramous pairs. Third and fourth pairs separated by interval equal to distance between the second and third pairs. Junction of posterior end of cephalothorax and anterior end of neck armed with holdfast of two unbranched lateral horns, 59 60 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 40, NO.1, 1987 Figure 1. Pennella filosa L., dorsal. lengths 19.3, 17.9, each with bifid tip (Fig. 5) and single dorsal hom, length 12.2, with blunt rounded tip (Fig. 6). Neck approximately same length as trunk; cylindrical, unarmed, expanded slightly at junction with trunk. Trunk cylindrical, slightly transversely ridged, length 71, width 8.5. Trunk narrowing posteriorly at junction with abdomen near oviduct orifices on ventral surface. Oviducts two, small, knob-like, with circular openings at center. Abdomen subcylindrical, slightly dorsoventrally compressed with two spherical lobes on posterior end (Fig. 7). Ventral abdominal surface covered with a brush comprised of plumes with secondary and tertiary plumules (Fig. 8). Egg strings incomplete; remaining portions filiform, cylindrical. Eggs multiserrate. Length of specimen (from anterior end ofcephalothorax to posterior of abdomen) 158. The above description does not completely agree with previous descriptions of P. filosa by Brian (1906), Wilson (1917; 1932) and Kabata (1979). These differ- ences were not sufficient to warrant designation of the specimen described above as a species distinct from P. filosa. The lateral horns of the specimen described herein had bifid tips, a feature previously unreported for the species. Kabata (1979) lists the lateral hom length, and number (2 to 3), as variable in P. filosa. The structure of these holdfasts is probably also inconsistent. Kabata (1979) describes the papillae of the cephalothorax as more or less even in size; the specimen from Mola exhibited peripheral papillae twice the size of those at center. Wilson (1917) reported papillae size to be different in every specimen he ex- amined. Lateral hom structure and length, and papillae size, are probably too much influenced by site of infestation in the host to be of any use taxonomically. Synonyms of P. filosa include: P. costai Steenstrup and Lutken, 1861 on sword- HOGANS: COPEPOD PARASITE FROM MOLA MOLA 61 2a 2b 3 mm '----' 33... ~•••.••.•••••.••. ~ ~ 5 0.01 mm L----J ~. 0.01 mm 2 mm L--.J L----J 7 2 mm L--..J 8 2 mm L..-.-.J 2 mm L--.J Figures 2-8. Pennellafilosa. 2-Cephalothorax: A, dorsal; B, ventral. 3-First antennae, dorsal. 4- Second antennae, terminal segment, dorsal. 5- Lateral horns, tips, dorsal. 6- Dorsal horn, tip, dorsal. 7-Abdomen, posterior end, dorsal. 8-Plumules from abdominal brush. fish in the Mediterranean Sea, P. germonia Leigh-Sharpe, 1931 on the albacore tuna (Thunnus alalonga L.) from the Mediterranean, P. fibrosa (T. Scott, 1906) on the ocean sunfish from Scottish coastal waters, P. orthogorisci Wright, 1870 on Mola in the northwest Atlantic, P. plumosa Linton, 1925 on swordfish from otfWoods Hole, Massachusetts and P. rubra Brian, 1906 on ocean sunfish in the Mediterranean. Most of the above species were described based on characters 62 BULLETINOF MARINESCIENCE,VOL.40, NO.1,1987 subject to morphdlogical variability (lateral horn length, papillae size, neck length or length ratio of neck to trunk) or on the occurrence of the species from differing hosts from different geographical areas. A revision of the entire genus is needed to determine which other species may be synonymous with P. filosa. Pennella filosa is reliably reported from the following hosts: scombrids of the genus Thunnus L., circumpolar (Kabata, 1979), ocean sunfish, northwest Atlantic (Wilson, 1917; 1932) and swordfish, northwest Atlantic (Wilson 1917; 1932; Hogans et al., 1985). The record ofTibbo et al. (1961) of Pennella sp. on swordfish in the northwest Atlantic is referred to P. filosa by Margolis and Arthur (1979). Although this is probably correct, these could have also been referred to P. in- structa, a parasite of that host in the same area. Causey (1955) reported P. filosa from hyporhamphid and progonichthyid flyingfishes in the Gulf of Mexico. Ka- bata (1979) questions the validity of this report; the identification was based on specimens lacking the cephalothorax, which is necessary for determining the iden- tity of species. The specimen of P. filosa is deposited in the Atlantic Reference Collection, Fisheries and Oceans, Biological Station, St. Andrews, New Brunswick EOG2XO, Canada. Catalogue No. 509-83. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank P. W. G. McMullon for helpful comments on line drawings, Dr. Z. Kabata for information on the uniformity of antennae structure in the Pennellidae, Dr. R. Cressey, and an anonymous reviewer for comments on the manuscript. LITERATURE CITED Brian, A. 1906. Copepodi parasiti dei pesci d'ltali. Genova. 190 pp. Causey, D. 1955. Parasitic copepods from Gulf of Mexico fish. Occ. Pap. Mar. Lab. St. Louis Univ. No.9. 19 pp. Hogans, W. E., J. Brattey and T. R. Hurlbut. 1985. Pennella fiJosa and P. instructa (Copepoda: Pennellidae) on swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) from the northwest Atlantic Ocean. J. Parasitol. 79: 111-112. Kabata, Z. 1979. Parasitic Copepoda of British fishes. The Ray Society, London. 463 pp. Leigh-Sharpe, W. H. 1928. The genus Pennella (Copepoda) as represented by the collection in the British Museum. Parasitology 20: 79-89. Margolis, L. and J. R. Arthur. 1979. Synopsis of the parasites of fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. No. 199.269 pp. Tibbo, S. N., L. R. Day and W. F. Doucet. 1961. The swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.), its life history and economic importance in the northwest Altantic. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 13: 449-466. Wilson, C. B. 1917. North American parasitic copepods belonging to the family Lemaeidae, with a revision of the entire family. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. (2194) 53: 1-150. --. 1932. Copepods of the Woods Hole region, Massachusetts. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. No. 158. 635 pp. DATEACCEPTED:June 7, 1985. ADDRESS:Huntsman Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, New Brunswick EOG 2XO, Canada..