Corallovexiidae, A New Family of Transformed Copepods Endoparasitic in Reef Corals
Stock JH. 1975. Corallovexiidae, A New Family of Transformed Copepods Endoparasitic in Reef Corals. Studies of the Fauna of Curacao and Other Caribbean Islands. No. 155
The Corallovexiidae are a new family of highly transformed, presumably poecilostome, Copepoda, found endoparasitic in 13 species of stony corals in the sublittoral zone {0.5-40 meters) on the south coast of Curacao (Netherlands Antilles). The copepods are large (2-5 mm). strongly sexually dimorphic, and sometimes very abundant. The family consists of 10 named new species, 1 named new variety, and 2 unnamed forms, distributed over 2 new genera, Corallovexia and Corallonoxia. The Corallovexiidae are probably most closely related to the Antheacheridae, though they are less transformed than these, and possibly also to the Mytilicolidae.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Stock, Jan
- Date of Issue
- 1975
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Antheacheridae, Corallonoxia, Corallovexia, Mytilicolidae, Stony corals