First Description of Life Stages of <i>Anilocra prionuri</i> Williams and Bunkley-Williams, 1986 (Isopoda: Cymothoidae) and Growth-associated Morphological Changes.

ABSTRACT: Cymothoidae are mainly described based on the morphology of adult females, making species identification difficult because of the limited morphological information on male, juvenile, and manca life stages. In particular, most species in the genus Anilocra Leach, 1818 lack morphological information beyond that of females, highlighting the need to accumulate such data. In the present study, we described the aegathoid stage, male, and transitional morphology of Anilocra prionuri Williams and Bunkley-Williams, 1986 collected from Japanese waters and documented changes in morphology with growth for the first time. With growth, the morphology of A. prionuri changed: 1) body shape becomes rounder, 2) eye length becomes shorter, 3) shortest pereonite changes from 7 to 2, 4) an

SUBMITTER: Fujita H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12541593 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature