2022 Volume 51 Pages 31-38
An ovigerous female of Argulus matuii Sikama, 1938 was collected from the body surface of a yellowfin seabream Acanthopagrus latus (Houttuyn, 1782) in a cove facing the Bungo Channel off Ehime Prefecture, western Japan. This represents a new host record for A. matuii, and the female collected is herein described. This female, which was fixed and preserved in 70% ethanol, showed a prominent body coloration, i.e., six streaks of yellow fringed with dark brown pigments, on the dorsal surface of the carapace even on 279th day (ca. nine months) after fixation, but the yellow streaks disappeared and the dark brown fringes were fading on 1675th day (ca. four years and seven months) after fixation. Thus, this paper reports on the usefulness of those yellow streaks in identification of A. matuii for a certain period after fixation but also emphasizes the importance of a detailed examination of morphological features in identification of long-term ethanol-preserved argulid specimens. The species is distinguished from the five marine congeners from Japan by its possession of numerous supporting rods in the marginal membranes of the first maxillae.
