A new species of Lernaeenicus (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) from southern Africa

Abstract

The pennellid genus Lernaeenicus is a small group of similar to 26 nominal spp. Of these, only one, i.e. L. gonostomae has been recorded from the southern African coast. The present study has shown that another species occurs further south in the Indian Ocean, in the vicinity of the Kowie River estuary in the Cape Province, South Africa. This species can be distinguished from all existing species and is here described as Lernaeenicus kabatai n. sp., parasitic on Carangoides equula