Parasitic copepods (Crustacea, Hexanauplia) on fishes from the lagoon flats of Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific

Abstract

We surveyed copepods parasitic on the fishes at Palmyra, a remote atoll in the Central Indo-Pacific faunal region. In total, we collected 849 individual fish, representing 44 species, from the intertidal lagoon flats at Palmyra and recovered 17 parasitic copepod species. The parasitic copepods were: Orbitacolax williamsi on Mulloidichthys flavolineatus; Anuretes serratus on Acanthurus xanthopterus; Caligus confusus on Carangoides ferdau, Carangoides orthogrammus, Caranx ignobilis, Caranx melampygus, and Caranx papuensis; Caligus kapuhili on Chaetodon auriga and Chaetodon lunula; Caligus laticaudus on Rhinecanthus aculeatus, Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus, M. flavolineatus, Upeneus taeniopterus, Chrysiptera glauca, and Epinephalus merra; Caligus mutabilis on Lutjanus fulvus and Lutjanus monostigma; Caligus randalli on C. ignobilis; Caligus sp. on L. fulvus; Caritus serratus on Chanos chanos; Lepeophtheirus lewisi on A. xanthopterus; Lepeophtheirus uluus on C. ignobilis; Dissonus similis on Arothron hispidus; Nemesis sp. on Carcharhinus melanopterus; Hatschekia longiabdominalis on A. hispidus; Hatschekia bicaudata on Chaetodon auriga and Chaetodon lunula; Kroyeria longicauda on C. melanopterus and Lernanthropus sp. on Kyphosus cinerascens. All copepod species reported here have been previously reported from the Indo-Pacific but represent new geographical records for Palmyra, demonstrating large-scale parasite dispersion strategies.