Bopyrid isopods of the genus Aporobopyrus infesting porcellanid crabs (Decapoda: Anomura) in the Gulf of California, Mexico: new host and parasite records

Abstract

Based on examination of porcellanid crabs from the Gulf of California, Mexico, deposited in the Colección Nacional de Crustáceos of the Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, we document Petrolisthes crenulatus, P. hirtispinosus and P. galapagensis as hosts of bopyrid isopods belonging to the genus Aporobopyrus for the first time. The new records increase to 42 the number of known hosts for these ectoparasites. Further, this report provides the first record of Aporobopyrus curtatus for the coasts of Mexico and the eastern Pacific, becoming the second species of the genus with an Amphiamerican distribution. The distribution ranges of A. bourdonis, A. muguensis and A. trilobatus are extended and morphological remarks and a key to the four bopyrid species are provided.