A new species, Gnathia nkulu sp. n. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae) from southern Africa

Abstract

Abstract.A new species, Gnathia nkulu sp. n. is described from material collected off the South African coast at 80-200m depth. It differs from the intertidal species Gnathia africana Barnard, 1914 in that the mediofrontal process is not deeply divided into two lobes, article 2 of the pylopod is rounded and small wart-like tubercles and long simple setae are present on both the cephalosome and pereon.

Gnathia pantherina sp. n. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae), a temporary ectoparasite of some elasmobranch species from southern Africa

“…The adult males obtained through the moulting of the male larvae did not conform to the description of any known gnathiid males and are thus described as a new species along with the adult females and praniza larvae. This description follows the anatomical taxonomy, numbering of pereonites and pereopods, and general layout used by Cohen and Poore (1994), Smit and Van As (2000) and Smit et al (2000). Table 1.…”

“…spongicola Barnard, 1920) and those with a normal pereonite morphology (G. africana Barnard, 1914 andG. nkulu Smit et Van As, 2000) (see Barnard 1914a, 1920, Smit et al 1999, Smit and Van As 2000. Gnathia pantherina falls into the latter group.…”

“…The G. pantherina male can be distinguished from these two species by means of its deeply concave divided mediofrontal process and the dorsally visible lamina dentata. Both G. pantherina and G. nkulu have a row of long plumose setae and tubercles extending laterally from under the eyes posteriomedially almost reaching the median tubercle (see Smit and Van As 2000). Gnathia pantherina differs from G. nkulu in the shape of the frontal border, morphology of pylopod article 2 and the length of the appendix masculina.…”

Gnathia trimaculata n. sp. (Crustacea: Isopoda: Gnathiidae), an ectoparasite found parasitising requiem sharks from off Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

“…For brightfield microscopy, specimens were stained in lignin pink for 24 hours and cleared in lactic acid before drawing each stage for taxonomic purposes. Specimens were also prepared for scanning electron microscopy following the techniques described by Smit & Van As (2002) and Coetzee et al (2008). The anatomical terminology, as well as the numbering of pereonites and pereopods, used by Cohen & Poore (1994) and the setal classification used by Watling (1989) and Garm (2004) were applied.…”