Occurrence of Lernanthropus pomatomi Rathbun, 1887 (Copepoda: Lernanthropidae) and Caligus schistonyx Wilson, 1905 (Copepoda: Caligidae) Parasitizing Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) (Teleostei: Pomatomidae) in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Thirteen females of Lernanthropus pomatomi Rathbun , 1887 (Copepoda: Lernanthropidae) and one female of Caligus schistonyx Wilson , 1905 (Copepoda: Caligidae) were recorded in the Bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) (Teleostei: Pomatomidae) (420 mm SL, 1030 g) off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Records of L. pomatomi and C. schistonyx in this region are an extension of their geographic distribution to the tropics, since these parasitic copepods were originally described in P. saltatrix from the northern Gulf of Mexico and North-Western Atlantic Ocean. A summary of recorded Lernanthropus and Caligus species in Mexico is included. Studies on parasitic copepods in Mexico are more frequent in the Mexican Pacific; thus, it is recommended to further document the parasitic copepod diversity in marine fishes from the southern Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean.