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The flesh‐burrowing parasitic isopod Ichthyoxenus fushanensis was found infecting the body cavity of a freshwater fish, Varicorhinus bacbatulus, in heterosexual pairs. Herein we investigate the question of how the host body size may constrain the parasite size and clutch size by analyzing the interactions among the body size and clutch size of the parasite, and host size. Due to the low transmission rate of I. fushanensis to its host and the positive relationship between clutch size and female size, selection may favor larger females with larger clutch sizes to compensate for massive losses of manca (the free‐living juveniles). The path model reveals that clutch size depends not only directly on female size, but also on the sizes of her host and mate. Female size also depends on the sizes of the host and her mate. A negative correlation exists between the body sizes of the paired males and females. This negative correlation may be regarded as a consequence of competition for limited available space or other resources provided by the host. The effects of host size on parasite size, however, act on the total volume of both sexes as a whole, not specifically on either the female or the male. In this case, the available space/resources may not allow both individuals of different sexes to evolve toward a larger size simultaneously. Under the constraint of host size, a strategy of reducing the body size of the paired male may provide a way to increase the body size of the paired female and achieve a larger clutch size.

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Ichthyoxenusfushanensis, new species, a flesh-burrowing parasite of Varicorhinus barbatulus, collected from a mountain stream in northern Taiwan, is described. It resembles the only congeneric species, I. formosanus, recorded in Taiwan, but can be distinguished from the latter by the narrower forehead, smooth posterior margin of pereionites, narrower pleotelson, shorter antennae 1 and 2, and short carpus of pereiopod 1. The two species also differ in the structure of the mouthparts, especially the number of terminal spines on the mandible and maxilliped. In addition, the two species occur in different habitats and on different hosts. Ichthyoxenus formosanus is found in the body cavity of the fresh-water carp, Carassius auratus, occurring in lakes or ponds. The morphological differences between free-living mancas and parasitic adults of Ichthyoxenus fushanensis are compared.

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