First record and molecular characterisation of two Gnathia species (Crustacea, Isopoda, Gnathiidae) from Philippine coral reefs, including a summary of all Central-Indo Pacific Gnathia species

Mary O Shodipo; Paul C Sikkel; Nico J Smit; Kerry A Hadfield

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2021.03.004

First record and molecular characterisation of two Gnathia species (Crustacea, Isopoda, Gnathiidae) from Philippine coral reefs, including a summary of all Central-Indo Pacific Gnathia species

Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2021 Mar 20:14:355-367. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2021.03.004. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Authors

Mary O Shodipo¹, Paul C Sikkel^{2

3}, Nico J Smit³, Kerry A Hadfield³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences, Silliman University, Dumaguete City, 6200, Negros Oriental, Philippines.
² Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences Program, Arkansas State University, PO Box 599, State University, Jonesboro, AR, 72467, USA.
³ Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.

Abstract

Due to their unusual life cycle that includes parasitic larval and free living adult stages, gnathiid isopods are typically overlooked in biodiversity surveys, even those that focus on parasites. While the Philippines sits within the region of highest marine biodiversity in the world, the coral triangle, no gnathiid species have been identified or described from that region. Here we present the first records of two gnathiid species collected from the Visayas, central Philippines: Gnathia malaysiensis Müller, 1993, previously described from Malaysia, and G. camuripenis Tanaka, 2004, previously described from southern Japan. This paper provides detailed morphological redescriptions, drawings and scanning electron microscope images as well as the first molecular characterisation of both species, Furthermore, a summary of the Central-Indo Pacific Gnathia species is provided.

Keywords: Coral reef; Ectoparasite; Light trap; Marine fish parasites; Pacific ocean; taxonomy.