Records of the hermit crabs and their parasites, bopyrid isopods in Dogo, Oki Islands

Abstract

The Oki Islands, located off the coast of the border between Shimane and Tottori Prefectures, are situated approximately 70 km north of the Shimane Peninsula in the southern Sea of Japan. The Oki Islands mainly consist of Dogo (Okinoshima Town), Nishinoshima (Nishinoshima Town), Nakanoshima (Ama Town), and Chiburijima (Chibu Village). In this study, two hermit crabs, Diogenes pallescens and Clibanarius virescens were found for the first time in the Oki Islands, and two species of parasitic bopyrid isopods were obtained from C. virescens. Here, these parasitic bopyrid isopods are identified based on external morphology, and their parasitism rates are reported along with comparisons to records from the Pacific side.