Nerocila californica Schioedte and Meinert, 1881

Nerocila californica Schioedte and Meinert, 1881 View in CoL

( Fig. 3 View Figure 3 )

Material examined. Boca del Asadero, Nayarit, Nov 28, 2019, 21 females (TL 14.8–21.6) and 1 male (TL 12.9), caudal fin of Micropogonias altipinnis ( Sciaenidae ) (ICML-EMU 13784). Urías estuary: Oct 13, 2023, 3 females (TL 15–18.9) on Bagre panamensis ( Ariidae ) (ICML-EMU 13785-A). Off Mazatlan bay: Ago 12, 2023, 2 females (TL 22.8–24) on caudal fin of M. altipinnis (ICML-EMU 13785-B); Ago 27, 2023, 5 females (TL 12.0–16.8), fins of B. panamensis (ICML-EMU 13785-C); Ago27, 2023,1 female (TL16.5), on Ophoioscion scierus ( Sciaenidae ) (ICML-EMU 13785-D); Oct 9, 2023, 4 females (TL 14.2–18.5), on Hoplopagrus guentherii ( Lutjanidae ) (ICML-EMU 13785-E); Oct 14, 2023, 2 males (TL 10.1–12.3) on fins of B. panamensis , (ICML-EMU13785-F); Dec 8, 2023, 25 females (TL 14.6–21.7) and 2 males (TL 12.0–12.3), on caudal fin of M. altipinnis , (ICML-EMU 13786); Dec13, 2023, 5females (TL14–15.7),on B.panamensis (ICML-EMU 13785-G); Dec 20, 2023, 2 females (TL 17.1), on B. panamensis (ICML-EMU 13785-H); Jan 12, 2024, 2 females (TL 15.2–19.8) on B. panamensis ; Jan 12, 2024, 2 females (TL 15.2–16.5) on Polydactylus opercularis ( Polynemidae ) (ICML-EMU 13785-I). Additional record: Off Mazatlán Bay Mar 28, 2023, 1 female was observed on the dorsal fin of Aluterus monoceros ( Monacanthidae ).

Distribution. California, from the Gulf of California to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Previous known hosts. About 45 host fish species of 20 families (see Brusca, 1981; Del Moral-Flores et al., 2020).

Remarks. Most of the reports of Nerocila in the Eastern Pacific had been referred to N. acuminata ( e.g. Brusca, 1981), although those records are currently attributed to N. californica ( Segal, 1987; Del Moral-Flores et al., 2020); this contention is supported by Boyko et al. (2024) who showed that the distribution of N. acuminata is restricted to the western Atlantic coast,with the vast majority of records across the Gulf of Mexico; instead, the distribution of N. californica extends from California, including the Gulf of California, to the Galapagos Islands. In this study, most of the specimens of N. californica were collected from the caudal fin of the fishes, especially on B. panamensis captured off Mazatlán and the Urías estuary; the highest parasite loads were recorded from the caudal fin of two specimens of M. altipinnis (21 and 27 parasites). In our study, we added M. altipinnis , B.panamensis , H.guentherii , A.monoceros , P.opercularis , and O. scierus as new hosts of N. californica ( Tab. 1).