Six Species of the Lernanthropidae - Zoological Studies

630Zoological Studies 50(5): 611-635 (2011)DISCUSSIONT h e L e r n a n t h r o p i d a e , f o l l o w i n g t h eLernaeopodidae and Caligidae, is the 3rd-largestfamily of fish-parasitizing Siphonostomatoida. Thefamily contains over 150 species, with a greatmajority of them occurring in tropical waters.Thus, in the 3 countries of India, Japan, and theUK, where the fauna of fish-parasitizing copepodsare best known, we see that India stands outas having the most lernanthropid species, at 44species (Pillai 1985), whereas Japan is surroundedby colder water and has only 8 species (Hoand Do 1985) as is the UK with only 5 species(Kabata 1979a). However, in consideration of thenumber of genera, Taiwan contains 7 genera ofthe Lernanthropidae (Lernanthropinus Do in Hoand Do, 1985, Lernanthropodes, LernanthropsisDo in Ho and Do, 1985, Lernanthropus, Mitrapus,Norion von Nordmann, 1864, and Sagum). Indiais known to have representatives from 6 genera(Aethon, Lernanthropinus, Lernanthropsis,Lernanthropodes, Lernanthropus, and Sagum)and the other 2 aforementioned countries have5 genera in each, namely Lernanthropinus,Lernanthropsis, Lernanthropus, Mitrapus, andSagum in Japan (Ho and Do 1985) and Aethon,Lernanthropodes, Lernanthropus, Norion, andSagum in the UK (Kabata 1979a).A c c o r d i n g t o t h e c o p e p o d d a t a b a s eproduced by Boxshall (2011), Lernanthropus isthe largest genus of lernanthropids comprising111 species. As a matter of fact, more than 3/4(75.5% or 111/147) of lernanthropids belong toLernanthropus. This striking uneven compositionof species number is also evident in the(A)(D)(E)(F)(B)(C)p4crp3Fig. 15. Sagum folium sp. nov., male paratype. (A) Habitus, dorsal view; (B) habitus, ventral view; (C) caudal ramus, dorsal view; (D)antennule, dorsal view; (E) tip of antennule, dorsal view; (F) leg 2, dorsal view. Scale bars: A and B = 0.5 mm; C = 25 μm; D = 50 μm;E = 20 μm; F = 30 μm. p3: leg 3; p4: leg 4; cr: caudal ramus.