Perulernaea pirapitingae n.sp. a parasitic copepod (Lemaeidae) from the fish Piaractus brachypomus of the Meta River, Colombia, is described. In addition to the postmetamorphic female, observations on the copepodid V, the premetamorphic female and transitional stages are presented. The new species differs from the only other species known in the genus, Perulernaea gamitanae THATCHER & PAREDES, 1985, by being only about half as large, having less extensive "neck" glands and a leg 2 that is in a more anterior position. The new species also has a different host and is from another country

Thatcher, V.

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AMAZONIANA AXVI (l/2): 249-257 Kiel, Dezember 2000Perulernaea pírøpítìngae n.sp. (Copepoda: Lernaeidae)a parasite of the serrasalmid fish, Piaractus brachypomus from theMeta River, ColombiabyV.E. Thatcher.Dr. Vernon E. Thatcher, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Paraná,Caixa Postal 19020, 8 153 l-990 Curitiba/PR, Brazll.(Accepted for publication: September, 2000).AbstractPerulernaea pirapitingae n.sp. a parasitic copepod (Lemaeidae) from the ftsh Piaractus brachypomus oîthe Meta River, Colombia, is described. In addition to the postmetamorphic female, observations on thecopepodid V, the premetamorphic female and transitional stages are presented. The new species differsfrom the only other species known in the genus, Perulernaea gamitanae THATCHEIi & PAREDES' 1985'by being only about halfas large, having less estensive "neck" glands and a leg 2 that is in a more anteriorposition. The new species also has a different host and is from another country'Keywords: Fish parasite, lernaeid, Colombia, copepod'Resumoperulernaea pirapitingae n.sp. (Lernaeidae), um copépodo parasito do peixe Piaractus brachypomus doRio Meta, Colombia, é descrito. Além da fêmea pós-metamórfica, são apresentadas observações sobre ocopepodito V, a fêmea pre-metamórfica e alguns estágios de transição. A nova espécie distingue-se daúnica outra do gênero, Perulernaea gamitanae THATCHER & PAREDES, I 985, por ser só a metade dessaem tamanho. Também, as glândulas do "pescoço" ocupam uma área menor, a perna 2 é mais anterior e asduas espécies são de diferentes hospedeiros e paises.*Senior Professor, Departamento de Zoologia da Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná andResearch Fellow ofthe conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (cNPq) Brasília,Brazil.ISSN 0065-675 5120001249/ @ MPI für Limnologie, AG Tropenökologie, Plön; INPA, Manaus249THATCHER & PAREDES (1985) described a new genus and species of Lemaeidaethat they called Perulernaea gamitanae. This parasite had been fouìd dangling from thenasal fossae of the Amazonian food frsh, colosso ma macropomum, at lquitos, peru.This is a.fish called tambaqui in Brazil and gamitana in peru. The same parasite waslater found in the mouth and on the gills of the same host species at Manaus, Brazil. Itwas redescribed by THATCHER & WILLIAMS (199g). Both the description and theredescription were based on only a few specimens and developmental stages were notseen. Recently, gill material containing numerous postmetamorphic females and somedevelopmental stages of a new species of Perulernaea came tõ hand. This species isherein described and the developmental stages are compared to those of Lernaeadevastatrix as reported by BOXSHALL et al. (1997).Material and MethodsSeveral gill arches of the serrasalmid fish, Piaractus brachypomus, from the Meta River of EastemColombia were sent to me for examination and parasite identification. They were found to be heavilyinfested with more than 100 specimens of Perulernaea n.sp. including several developmental stages.Parasites were removed with the aid ofdissecting needles and preserved in 70% alcohol. The specimenswere studied in phenol as temporary mounts and permanent preparations were made of some by thephenol-balsam method described in THATCHER (1991). Drawings were made with the aid of a cameralucida and measurements with a measuring ocular. Measuremente are in micrometers (¡rm) unless indicatedas millimeters (mm).Systematic SectionPerulernues pirapitingae n.sp. (Figs. l-17)Host" Piaractus brachypomus; serrasalmidae; Brazilian common name: pirapitinga.Site: Gill filaments and gill arches.Locality: Upper Meta River, Eastern. Colombia.Holotype postmetamorphic female and 3 paratype postmetamorphic females deposited in the InvertebrateCollection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.Etymology: The common name of the fish host is used as the specific name of the parasite.Postmetamorphic adult female (Figs. 4 & S-17).Description: Measurements made on six specimens. Length = 8.9- I I .4 ( I 0.0) mm; lateral spread of anchors= 2.7-4.6 (3.9) mm; diameter of anchors = 0.81-t.10 (0.93) mm; length of hindbody = 4.¡-5.0 (4.5) mm;greatest width of hindbody = 0.91-1.10 (1.0) mm; hindbody representing 39-53 (46)% of the toral length;45-47 (46)% ofhindbody lies posterior ro genital pore; egg sacs 2.9-3.5 (3.1) x 0.61_0.7g (0.72) mm.Thoracopods I and 2 shown in Figures l3 and 14. Spine and setal formulae for first four thoracopods asin Table l. Thoracopod 5 (Fig. l5) closely similar to that ol Lernaea devastatrix @OXCHALL et al.,1997). Protopod with a single seta; exopodal element flattened and spatulate bearing six setae. Antennulesand antennae as in Figures l6 and 17. No aesthetasc was observed.Other stagesMales were not found but fen¡ales in the copepodid V stage, as premetamorphic adults and in varioustransitional stages were seen. These are herein described.,250Female copepodid V (Fig. 1)At this stage, the body consists of a cephalothorax, which incorporates the first pedigerous somite,pedigerous somites two to five, the genital somite and three abdominal somites. The body measures l.l0-1.25 mm in length by 29-35 ¡rm in greatest width. This stage is similar to that in such species of Lernaeaas have been described but the cephalothorax is bullet-shaped rather than truncate.Adult premetamorphic female (Fig. 2)This stage consists of a cephalothorax, including the first pedigerous somite, pedigerous somites two rofive, a genital somite and four abdominal somites. The cephalothorax is nearly the same size as incopepodid V but the rest of the body is more elongate. Without the caudal fi laments, it measures I .50- I .70mm in length and 30-35 Fm in greatest width. The genital somite is larger and more rectangular than inthe copepodid stage. This stage is more elongate than that oî Lernaea devastatrix as shown in Figure 2aby BOXSHALL et al. (1997) and the cephalothorax is rounded anteriorly instead oftruncate.Growth of transitional stages (Figs. 3, 5-7)Transitional stages measuring from 2.25-9.20 mm in length were found. The smallest of these (Fig. 3)shows fusion of all somites and areas of stretch between the cephalothorax and the second pedigeroussomite, as well as between the third and fourth, the fourth and fifth, and the fìfth and the genital somite.The next largest stage found (Fig. 5) measured 3.5 mm in length. It can be seen that the regions ofgreateststretch were between the second and third and between the third and fourth pedigerous somites. The genitalsomite has lost its rectangular appearance and become rounded. Transitional stages measuring from 9 tol0 mm in length were also seen (Fig. 6). Here, the lengthening between the third and fourth pedigeroussomites is particularly pronounced and the cephalothorax has begun to change shape. In Fig. 7, thecephalothorax can be seen to have enlarged but head anchors have not yet grown out. A slight swelling inthe body just anterior to the fourth pair of swimming legs indicates where the hind body will start in thepostmetamorphic adult female.DiscussionHO ( 1998) pointed out the relative paucity of South American lernaeids as compared tothe abundance of these forms in Asia and Africa and suggested a geological explana-tion. V/hile it is true that there are fewer lemaeids known from South America, itshould be remembered that there are literally thousands of native freshwater fishes onthis continent that have never been examined for parasites. The principal papers dealingwith South American lernaeids are: BOXSHALL et al. (1997); BRIAN 092Ð; PAGGI(19'72, 197 6); THATCHER ( 1998); THATCHER & PAREDES ( I 985) and THATCHER& WTLLTAMS (1998).THATCHER (1998) affirmed that there are no native species of the genus Lernaeaknown from South America. HO (1993) considered Perulernaeq to be a synonym ofLernaea. According to him, the supposed distinguishing characters, namely: blunt headanchors, a well defined slender "neck" and a fusiform hindbody, are not unique to thePeruvian genus but "are also found in the species of Lernaea". He did not indicate whatspecies of Lernaea have such characters, but ifhe was thinking of Lernaea argentinen-s¡s PAGGI, 1972, and Lernaea lagenula (HELLER, 1868) then he will have beenmisled and possibly have compromised the results of his cladistic analysis. As THAT-CHER & WILLIAMS (1998) pointed out, neither of these species can belong toLernqea. Judging by the position of the thoracopods, as shown in the published dra-wings, both probably represent new genera. Table 2 shows the native genera and species251Figs. l-3:Perulernaea pirapitingae nsp.l: Copepodid V. 2: Premetamorphic female. 3: Metamorphosing female.All to same scale = 500 pm.25332Iof Lernaeidae herein recognized for South America along with their known hosts andlocalities. In addition to the native species, there are three imported ones, namely:Lernaea cyprinacea L., L. devastøtrix BOXSHALL, MONTU & SCHWARZBOLD1997, and Lamproglena monodi CAPART, 1944. The two species of Lernaea have beenreported from various imported and native fîshes in the South of Brazil and the lam-proglenid occurs in cultures of African tilapias.Perulernaea pirapitingae n.sp. is much smaller than P. gamitanae THATCHER &PAREDES, 1985, (8.9-11.4 compared to 18.0-21.7). The glandular area of the "neck',in the new species is limited to the anterior expansion whereas in P. gamitanøe glandsoccupy the first one-third of the "neck". Since the second thoracopods are immediatelyposterior to the glandular area in both species, these appendages are in a much moreanterior position in the new species. The new species is also from a different host fish(Piaractus brachypomus) and a different country (Colombia).AcknowledgmentsThe author is grateful to Diego Muñoz of Villavicencio, Colombia, Evoy Zaniboni Filho of the Univer-sidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis/SC, Brazil and Walter P. Boeger of the UniversidadeFederal do Paraná, Curitiba/PR, Brazil, for making this material available for study.ReferencesBOXSHALL, G.4., MONTU, M.A. & A. SCHWARZBOLD (1997): A new species of Lernaea L.(Copepoda: Cyclopoida) from Brazil with notes on its ontogeny. - Systematic Parasit.35: 195-205.BRIAN, A. (1924): Descrizione di un nuovo e curioso copepode lemeideo parassita de Salminus brevidensraccolto dal Prof. Filippo Silvestri nell'Ameerica del Sud. - Boll. Lab. Zool. R. sc. Agri. Portici l8:32-37.HO, J.S. (1998): Cladistics of the Lernaeidae (Cyclopoida), a major family of freshwater fish parasites. -Jour. Marine Systems. l5: 177-183.THATCHER, V.E. (1991): Amazon fish parasites. - Amazoniana ll:263-571.THATCHER, V.E. (1998): Copepods and fìshes in the Brazilian Amazon. - Jour. Marine Systems. t5: 97-112.THATCHER, V.E. & V. PAREDES. (1985): A parasitic copepod, Perulernaea gam¡tanae gen. et sp. nov.(Cyclopoida: Lernaeidae), from the nasal fossae of a Peruvian food fish. - Amazoniana 9: 169-175.THATCHER, V.E. & E.H. WILLIAMS (1998). Comparative morphology of three native lernaeids(Copepoda: Cyclopoida) from Amazonian fishes and descriptions of two new genera. - Jour. AquaticAnimal Health l0: 300-308.PAGGI, J.C. (1972): Contribución al conocimiento de los Lemaeidae (Crustacea, Copepoda) de Argentina.Lernaea argentinensis sp. nov. y Taurocheros salmìnisii BRIAN, 1924, parásitos de peces del RioParaná medio. - Acta Zoologica Lilloana 29:35-46.PAGGI, J.C. (1976): Una nueva especie de copépodo lernéido, Taurocheros tarangophilus sp. nov.,parasita de Hoplias malabaricus (BLOCH, I 794) hallada en el Rio Paraná, Argentina. - Physis 35(91 ):I l3-l 19.2s29lo1112Figs. 9- I 2:P e rule r naea pi rap ití ngae n,sp.9: Maxilliped of premetamorphic adult female. Scale = 50 pm. l0: Adult postmetamorphic female(ventral). I l: Posterior of small adult postmetamorphic female. 12: Egg sac from large adult postmetamor-phic female. Scales l0-12 = 1000 pm.255Table l: Spine and setal formulae for the swimminglegs of Perulernaea pirapitingae n.sp.Leg Ecopod EndopodI)J4I-l; I-l; tl-5I-l; l-l; III-5I-l; l-l; lll-5I-l; I-l; III-50-l;0-l; II-40-l;0-2; II-40-l;0-2; ll-40-l;0-2; ll-3Table 2: South American freshwater lemaeidae.Lernaeid Host DistributionAmazolernaea sanneraeTHATCHER & WILLIAMS, I998Cichla monoculus Amazonia of Colombia& BrazilAreotrachelus truchae(BR|AN, 1902)Percíchthys trucha Patagonia, ArgentinaBedsylernaea collarisTHATCHER & WILLIAMS, I998Hoplias malabaricus Amazonia, Brazil* Lernaea argentinensisPAGG¡, I972Pseudoplatystomacoruscans P. fasciatumArgentina*Lernøea lagenula(HELLER, 1868)host unknown BrazilPerulernaea gamitanaeTHATCHER & PAREDES, I985Colossoma macropomum Amazonia of Peru &BrazilPerulernaea pirapilingaen.sp. (this paper)Piaractus brachypomum Meta River, ColombiaTaurocherus salminisiiBRIAN, I924Salminis brevidensS. maxillosusArgentinaTaurocherus tarangophilusPAGGI, I976Hoplias malabaricus Paraná River,Argentina*not Lernaea, possibly new genera.257l3 14l5r6-17Figs. l3-17:Pe rule r nqea p i rap itingae n.sp.13: Leg one. 14: Leg2.15: Leg 5. 16: Antennule. 17: Antenna.Scales 13-14 = 100 pm; 15 = 25 pm; 16-17 = 50 pm.v \256

Perulernaea pirapitingae n.sp. (Copepoda: Lernaeidae) a parasite of the serrasalmid fish, Piaractus brachypomus from the Meta River, Colombia

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