Complementary description and further record of Thysanote rastrelligeri Rangnekar, 1962 (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida: Lernaeopodidae) from a new host

The parasitic copepod Thysanote rastrelligeri Rangnekar, 1962, was originally described from the branchial cavity of the Indian Mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) and it has not been reported after its original description. The type specimens of T. rastrelligeri are unavailable, so we provide herein a complementary description of the species based on fresh materials collected from the body surface of the Torpedo scad Megalaspis cordyla (L. 1758), obtained from the fish market at the Kerala coast, India.

Thysanote rastrelligeri can be identified based on the following important features: presence of two pairs of maxillary processes; cephalothorax longer than trunk; presence of four simple posterior trunk processes, two dorso-laterals and two ventro-laterals; uropods about 0.5 times as long as posterior processes. Torpedo scad is considered as the new host record and the body surface, a new site of attachment.