Lernaea chackoensis n.sp.: a copepod parasitic on two Madras fishes

Abstract

Since 1925, when Leigh-Sharpe described Lernaea elegans, the first Asiatic species from Anguilla japonica, four more species were recorded from China and Japan. The species described in the present paper, while differing from these and other known species, forms the first record of the genus from India. Five parasites attached to three fishes (Osphronemus goramy) and twelve removed from their hosts, together with two fish (Catla catla) infested by about eighteen parasites formed the material examined. Colonies of a vorticellid (Carchesium sp.) were found attached to the external portions of the parasites. In some the stalks of the epizoans were woven through by Algae such as Oscillaria, Lyngbya and Calothrix, enmeshing other algae like Cosmaria, Oedogonium and diatoms, and a matted covering was thus formed round the bodies of the parasites.