A new genus and species of cyclopoid copepod belonging to the family Enterognathidae, Parenterognathus troglodytes, is described from a gall on the calyx of the deep-sea crinoid Glyptometra crassa (Clark, 1912) collected at depths of 775–787 m off Kumano-nada, middle Japan. The new genus can be distinguished from the three known genera of the family by body tagmosis and by the segmentation and armature of the appendages. This is the first record of this family from the Pacific Ocean. This family seems to be host-specific to relatively basal deuterostomes, such as echinoderms and hemichordates. The evolutionary transformation and history of the Enterognathidae are briefly discussed.
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1 August 2010
A New Genus of Endoparasitic Copepods (Cyclopoida: Enterognathidae), Forming a Gall in the Calyx of Deep-Sea Crinoids
Susumu Ohtsuka,
Kota Kitazawa,
Geoffrey A. Boxshall
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crinoid host
Cyclopoida
Enterognathidae
parasitic copepod
taxonomy