New records of Copepoda parasitic on Peruvian marine fishes (Osteichthyes)

Abstract

The species recorded in the present paper were collected during a parasitological survey of Peruvian marine teleost fishes from the Bay of Chorrillos (120 30' S, 760 50'W). Fish nomenclature has been based in Chirichigno (1974). The Copepoda specimens were deposited in the Zoological Collection of the Ricardo Palma University (Parasitology Laboratory, LPURP), Lima-Peru. Two of the species recorded, Bomolochus bellones and Naobranchia lizae are specific parasites of fishes (Belonidae, Mugilidae) widely distributed in the world. Other species, Caligus quadratus, parasitic on fishes of the families Carangidae, Coryphaenidae, Embiotocidae, Sciaenidae and Scombridae, has a large geographic range and low specificity. Lepeophtheirus edwarsi and Neobrachiella exilis bear a geographic range restricted to the South American Pacific and Japanese coast. The similarity of the copepod fauna parasitic on fishes from Peru and Chile is obvious because the presence of numerous fishes that inc1ude the Peruvian and Chilean coast in their geographic distribution (Chirichigno 1974).