First record of the hyperparasite Liriopsis pygmaea (Cryptoniscidae, Isopoda) from a rhizocephalan parasite of the false king crab Paralomis granulosa from the Beagle Channel (Argentina), with a redescription

• Main Author: Roccatagliata, Daniel Carlos
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Beagle Channel; Cryptoniscid isopod; Liriopsis pygmaea; crab; isopod; morphology; new record; parasite; Argentina; South America; Western Hemisphere; World; Briarosaccus callosus; Chaceon affinis; Crustacea; Cryptoniscidae; Decapoda (Crustacea); Epicaridea; Isopoda; Limulus; Liriopsis; Paralomis; Paralomis granulosa; Jacquinot; South Georgia Island; Crozet Islands
• Online Access: https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00222933_v39_n4_p311_Peresan; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00222933_v39_n4_p311_Peresan

The Cryptoniscidae are epicaridean isopod parasites or hyperparasites of other crustaceans. Liriopsis Schultze in Müller, 1859, one of the genera included in this family, now contains two nominal species: L. pygmaea (Rathke, 1843) and L. monophthalma (Fraisse, 1878). Both of these species infest rhizocephalan cirripeds, which are in turn parasites of hermit crabs. Among the false king crabs, Paralomis granulosa (Jacquinot, 1847), captured commercially in the Beagle Channel in 1996-1998, we found 31 specimens of the rhizocephalan Briarosaccus callosus Boschma, 1930 infested by one or more specimens of L. pygmaea. Neither L. pygmaea nor L. monophthalma has been reported previously for the southern seas. Although unidentified isopod hyperparasites have been found on B. callosus infesting other lithodids from Crozet Islands, South Georgia Island and Canadian Atlantic waters, this is the first time that one of these hyperparasites has been identified as a member of the genus Liriopsis. Since the differences between L. pygmaea and L. monophthalma remain obscure, the epicaridium and cryptoniscus larvae and three females stages of L. pygmaea are herein described from the material collected in the Beagle Channel. Fil:Roccatagliata, D. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.