Lophoura (Copepoda : Sphyriidae) Parasitic on the Rattails (Pisces : Macrouridae) in the Pacific, with Note on Sphyrion lumpi from the Sea of Japan

Abstract

The Sphyriidae is a family of highly transformed parasitic copepods that bore into and anchor in the host tissue with their expanded cephalothorax and/or secondarily developed holdfast organ. The part of the parasite body inserted into the host tissue is always much longer than the trunk (genito-abdomen or genital complex) that exposes out of the host body (see Fig. As in many other parasitic copepods, attachment to fish host is strictly the work of the adult female sphyriids. Their cephalic appendages are extremely reduced and their thoracic appendages are absent. Nothing is known of their life cycle and larval stages. The dwarf adult male is sometimes found attached to the female. It resembles the male of the Lernaeopodidae in many respects.