Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details

Cymothoidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) infest fish in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments. <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> Lanchester, 1902 is a cymothoid commonly found in the buccal cavity of mainly Tetraodontiformes fishes, distributed in the central and western Indo-Pacific region. This...

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Main Authors: Hiroki Fujita, Haruki Shinoda, Yuzumi Okumura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Fishes
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/155
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author Hiroki Fujita
Haruki Shinoda
Yuzumi Okumura
author_facet Hiroki Fujita
Haruki Shinoda
Yuzumi Okumura
author_sort Hiroki Fujita
collection DOAJ
description Cymothoidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) infest fish in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments. <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> Lanchester, 1902 is a cymothoid commonly found in the buccal cavity of mainly Tetraodontiformes fishes, distributed in the central and western Indo-Pacific region. This study describes the morphology of each life cycle stage of <i>C. pulchrum</i>: adult female, transitional, adult male, juvenile, and manca. In addition, we obtained DNA sequences linked to the morphological information of this species. We compared it with the sequences in the database using the neighbor-joining tree based on cytochrome <i>c</i> oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA. Prior to this study, morphological data on the immature stages of Japanese <i>Cymothoa</i> was limited to juveniles of <i>Cymothoa indica</i> Schioedte and Meinert, 1884. The research identified 12 distinct morphological features that differentiate juvenile <i>C. pulchrum</i> from juvenile <i>C. indica</i>. Molecular analysis revealed that the COI sequences obtained in this study matched some of the <i>C. pulchrum</i> sequences in the database, whereas other sequences in the database formed a clade with <i>Cymothoa eremita</i> (Brünnich, 1783). In the phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA, <i>C. pulchrum</i> was also divided into two groups. In the COI phylogenetic tree, <i>C. pulchrum</i> and <i>C. eremita</i> form a total of five groups, and these two species might need to be re-examined taxonomically and molecularly.
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spelling doaj-art-29dd062528e348a58fdf9aa55266f82e2025-08-20T02:28:14ZengMDPI AGFishes2410-38882025-04-0110415510.3390/fishes10040155Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological DetailsHiroki Fujita0Haruki Shinoda1Yuzumi Okumura2Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama 649-2211, Wakayama, JapanSeto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama 649-2211, Wakayama, JapanSeto Marine Biological Laboratory, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University, 459 Shirahama, Wakayama 649-2211, Wakayama, JapanCymothoidae (Crustacea: Isopoda) infest fish in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments. <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> Lanchester, 1902 is a cymothoid commonly found in the buccal cavity of mainly Tetraodontiformes fishes, distributed in the central and western Indo-Pacific region. This study describes the morphology of each life cycle stage of <i>C. pulchrum</i>: adult female, transitional, adult male, juvenile, and manca. In addition, we obtained DNA sequences linked to the morphological information of this species. We compared it with the sequences in the database using the neighbor-joining tree based on cytochrome <i>c</i> oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA. Prior to this study, morphological data on the immature stages of Japanese <i>Cymothoa</i> was limited to juveniles of <i>Cymothoa indica</i> Schioedte and Meinert, 1884. The research identified 12 distinct morphological features that differentiate juvenile <i>C. pulchrum</i> from juvenile <i>C. indica</i>. Molecular analysis revealed that the COI sequences obtained in this study matched some of the <i>C. pulchrum</i> sequences in the database, whereas other sequences in the database formed a clade with <i>Cymothoa eremita</i> (Brünnich, 1783). In the phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA, <i>C. pulchrum</i> was also divided into two groups. In the COI phylogenetic tree, <i>C. pulchrum</i> and <i>C. eremita</i> form a total of five groups, and these two species might need to be re-examined taxonomically and molecularly.https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/155<i>Diodon holocanthus</i>fish diseasejuvenilemancapathology
spellingShingle Hiroki Fujita
Haruki Shinoda
Yuzumi Okumura
Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
Fishes
<i>Diodon holocanthus</i>
fish disease
juvenile
manca
pathology
title Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
title_full Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
title_fullStr Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
title_full_unstemmed Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
title_short Description of Life Cycle Stages of Fish Parasite <i>Cymothoa pulchrum</i> (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), with DNA Barcode Linked to Morphological Details
title_sort description of life cycle stages of fish parasite i cymothoa pulchrum i isopoda cymothoidae with dna barcode linked to morphological details
topic <i>Diodon holocanthus</i>
fish disease
juvenile
manca
pathology
url https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/10/4/155
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