New host and first description of the male of Colobomatus stelliferi Pombo, Turra, Paschoal & Luque, 2015 (Copepoda: Philichthyidae), parasite of Umbrina canosai Berg, 1895 (Actinopterygii: Sciaenidae) off Brazil: improving the taxonomic knowledge pertaining to Colobomatus spp.

Acusicola rochai n. sp. (Copepoda: Ergasilidae) parasitizing Anableps anableps (Anablepidae) from the Amazon Coast, with a key for Acusicola spp.

“…Subsequently, eight additional species have been described, and new morphological traits have been documented in the genus, highlighting the necessity of updating this important taxonomic tool (Couto et al, 2023;Walter and Boxshall, 2024). Recently, Couto et al (2024b) observed that mounting copepods in permanent slides can compress and distort body shape. Although the shape of cephalosome seems to be taxonomically informative in Ergasilidae, we are cautious when using this feature here, since A. tucunarense, A. pellonidis, and A. lycengraulidis were described based on permanent slides and could suffer from the same problems observed in previous works (Thatcher andBoeger, 1983a, 1983b;Thatcher, 1984;Couto et al, 2024b).…”

“…Additionally, considering the potential for parasitic crustaceans observed in this host species, it is reasonable to consider this fish as a potential host for other copepods, which demands further investigations to better understand its parasitic fauna and ecological interactions. Moreover, this work also underscores the high biodiversity potential of parasitic copepods in fish with little commercial importance, which are frequently neglected due to the historically uneven research, widely documented in Brazil (Luque and Poulin, 2007; Luque and Tavares, 2007; Luque et al ., 2013; Couto et al ., 2023, 2024a, 2024b).…”

“…(2024b) observed that mounting copepods in permanent slides can compress and distort body shape. Although the shape of cephalosome seems to be taxonomically informative in Ergasilidae, we are cautious when using this feature here, since A. tucunarense , A. pellonidis , and A. lycengraulidis were described based on permanent slides and could suffer from the same problems observed in previous works (Thatcher and Boeger, 1983a, 1983b; Thatcher, 1984; Couto et al ., 2024b). Morphometric data and proportions of body, and leg segments and elements were used only as supporting data for identifying only certain species, since not all species of Acusicola has this information available.…”