Discovery of new species of mesoparasitic pennellid (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) from the endemic mesopelagic lightfish Vinciguerria mabahiss in the Red Sea.

ABSTRACT: A new species of the genus Cardiodectes Wilson, 1917 (Siphonostomatoida: Pennellidae), Cardiodectes tofaili n. sp., is described based on 13 adult females from ten specimens of the endemic lightfish Vinciguerria mabahiss (Stomiiformes: Phosichthyidae). These hosts were inadvertently captured by a remotely operated vehicle at depths of 454-645 m in the pelagic waters of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea. The new species is placed under the "rubosus" group, characterized by possession of a trunk without a discrete abdomen. It is distinguished from its 12 congeners within this group by having a short neck region with a distinct fourth pedigerous somite, and a trunk that is ca. 5 times longer than wide. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated 18S + 28S rDNA sequences supports the distinctiveness o

SUBMITTER: Lim KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12266664 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature