2022 Volume 51 Pages 147-152
The pennellid copepod Lernaeenicus ramosus Kirtisinghe, 1956 is a marine fish parasite in the Indo-West Pacific region. Serranid fishes (Perciformes) are the major hosts of L. ramosus, and as its non-serranid host, a single blenniid fish (Blenniiformes) is known from Australia. A metamorphosed ovigerous female of L. ramosus was collected from a grub fish, Parapercis sexfasciata (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (Perciformes: Pinguipedidae), in coastal waters of Suruga Bay, an inlet of the western North Pacific Ocean, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. This represents a new and the second non-serranid host records for L. ramosus and it is also the first record from a pinguipedid fish. The female is briefly described. A pennellid copepod previously reported as “Pennella sp.” from the same host species from the Iyo-Nada Sea, part of the Seto Inland Sea, western Japan, is considered to be L. ramosus.
