FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 84, NO. 2 



tained in Gooding's thesis (1963) have not been re- 

 examined, it appears likely that the presence of a 

 very reduced maxilliped in the adult female is a 

 generic character in Leptinogaster. 



Gooding (1963:218-220) discussed the generic 

 status ofSaphirella T. Scott, 1894, pointing out that 

 species of Saphirella may represent Copepodid I 

 stages of clausidiids. In his thorough description of 

 Copepodid I of Leptinogaster a significant difference 

 seems to be in the body length, which Gooding gave 

 as 0.45 mm, while in this study the length is 0.57 

 mm (0.45-0.60 mm). 



Although the genus Leptinogaster has been assign- 

 ed to various families (Table 1), its presently agreed 

 location appears to be in the Clausidiidae Embleton, 

 1901, along with Clausidium Kossmann, 1874, Con- 

 chyliurus Bocquet and Stock, 1957a, Giardella 

 Canu, 1888, Hemieyclops Boeck, 1873, Hersiliodes 

 Canu, 1888, and Hippomolgus G.O. Sars, 1917. 

 [According to the phylogenetic analysis of Ho (1984), 

 the genus Myzomolgus Bocquet and Stock, 1957b, 

 should be removed from the Clausidiidae and placed 

 close to the Catiniidae Bocquet and Stock, 1957b.] 

 The family Clausidiidae, containing seven genera of 

 certain status, shows several features: first anten- 

 na 6- or 7-segmented; second antenna 4-segmented 

 with third segment having in some cases prehensile 

 elements and fourth segment without a strong claw; 

 mandible with spine (or spinelike process) and 2 or 

 3 accessory elements (setae, spines); labrum with 

 rounded margin, mostly entire without median in- 

 dentation, except triangular in Leptinogaster; first 

 maxilla often with 2 lobes, but with 1 lobe having 

 2 groups of setae in Leptinogaster and 1 lobe with 

 a few setae in Clausidium; maxilliped in female 

 mostly 2-, 3-, or 4-segmented, but in Leptinogaster 

 reduced to 2 setae; maxilliped in male 2- or 3-seg- 

 mented plus claw (in Hippomolgus male unknown); 

 legs 1-4 biramous and 3-segmented (endopod of leg 

 1 bearing suckers in Clausidium); leg 5 2-segmented 

 (though in some first segment not clearly separated 

 from body). 



Leptinogaster falls within this concept of the 

 family Clausidiidae Neighboring families have fun- 

 damentally different features, e.g., the Clausiidae 

 (first antenna 3-6 segmented; legs 1-4 showing 

 various degrees of reduction (as characterized by 

 Wilson and Illg (1955)), the Myicolidae (3-segmented 

 second antenna with strong terminal claw, max- 

 illiped in female a small unarmed lobe), and the 

 Ergasilidae (second antenna with a strong terminal 

 claw, maxilliped often absent in female, legs 1-4 with 

 some reduction). More information on the develop- 

 mental stages of the members of these families 



would contribute greatly to understanding their 

 interrelationships. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I thank Roger F. Cressey who aided in the collec- 

 tion of the copepods from Mya at Cotuit in 1957 and 

 who provided M. S. Wilson's notes and correspon- 

 dence concerning Leptinogaster (= Myocheres) ma- 

 jor which are in the custody of the National Museum 

 of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. I thank 

 also Geoffrey A. Boxshall, British Museum (Natural 

 History), and Paul L. Illg, University of Washington, 

 for helpful suggestions. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Allen, J. A. 



1956. Myocheres inflata a new species of parasitic copepod 

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 B&CESCU, M., AND F. POR. 



1959. Cyclopoide comensale (Clausidiide si Clausiide) din 

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 70 e ani, p. 11-30. Acad. Rep. Pop. Rom. 



Bocquet, C, and J. H. Stock. 



1957a. Copepodes parasites d'invertebres des cotes de France 



I. Sur deux genres de la famille des Clausidiidae, commen- 



saux de mollusques: Hersiliodes Canu et Conchyliurus nov. 



gen. Proa K. Ned. Akad. Wet, Ser. C Biol. Med. Sci. 60: 



212-222. 

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IVa. Le double parasitisme de Sipunculus nudus L. par 



Myzomolgus stupendus. nov. gen., nov. sp., et Catinia plana 



nov. gen., nov. sp., copepodes cyclopoi'des tres remarquables. 



Proa K. Ned. Akad. Wet, Ser. C Biol. Med. Sci. 60:410- 



431. 

 1958. Copepodes parasites d'invertebres des cotes de la Man- 



che, IV. Sur les trois genres synonymes de copepodes 



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Exp. Gen. 96:71-89. 

 Boeck, A. 



1873. Nye Slaegter og Arter af Saltvands-Copepoder. Forh. 



Vidensk.-Selsk. Christiania (1872), p. 35-60. 

 Canu, E. 



1888. Les copepodes marins du Boulonnais. III. Les Her- 



siliidae, famille nouvelle de copepodes commensaux. Bull. 



Sci. Fr. Belg. 19:402-432. 

 Causey, D. 



1953. Parasitic Copepoda from Grand Isle, Louisiana Occas. 



Pap. Mar. Lab., La. State Univ. No. 7, 18 p. 

 Deevey, G. B. 



1948. The zooplankton of Tisbury Great Pond. Bull. Bingham 



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Embleton, A. L. 



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244 



