Sea lice (Copepoda: Caligidae) parasitic on fishes reported from the Neotropical region

Abstract

The Caligidae, also known as sea lice, is a family of parasitic copepods of fish that consists of 31 genera and more than 450 species, some of which have been deleterious to cultured fish. The goal of this paper was to structure a list of sea lice species known from the Neotropical region based on information from published records. A total of 115 sea lice species found on 217 fish species were listed, including 58 species of Caligus and 22 of Lepeophtheirus. It seems that the inventory of this group of parasites is far from complete. Considering the promotion of finfish sea-cage aquaculture throughout the coastal areas of Latin America, a better understanding of the sea lice biodiversity will support systematic work on parasitic copepods in the Neotropics and will provide fundamental information that could impact fish disease control and prevention strategies.