© The Authors, 2014. Journal compilation © Australian Museum, Sydney, 2014 
Records of the Australian Museum (2014) Vol. 66, issue number 4, pp. 233-240. 
ISSN 0067-1975 (print), ISSN 2201-4349 (online) 
http://dx.doi.Org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.66.2014.1602 
Smenispa irregularis (Bleeker, 1857) 
(Crustacea: Isopoda: Cymothoidae), 
a Buccal-attaching Fish Parasite from Australia 
Melissa B. Martin 123 *, Niel L. Bruce 2 4 and Barbara F. Nowak 1 
1 National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability, 
University of Launceston Tasmania 7250, Australia 
2 Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum, 
70-102 Flinders Street, Townsville Queensland 4810, Australia 
3 School of Marine Science and Environment, 
University of Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, 21030 Malaysia 
4 School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Queensland; and 
Water Research Group (Ecology), North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520 South Africa 
mbmartin@amc.edu.au • bnowak@utas.edu.au • niel.bruce@qm.qld.gov.au 
Abstract. Smenispa irregularis (Bleeker, 1857) is reported from the host Acanthopagrus latus (Sparidae) 
from Western Australia. The nomenclatural change from Enispa Schioedte and Meinert, 1884 to Smenispa 
Ozdikem, 2009 is discussed and a full description provided for Smenispa irregularis. The species is 
identified by the strongly vaulted body shape, pereonites 1 and 2 arching anteriorly, cephalon embedded 
in pereonite 1, lateral margins of pereonites subparallel, and the lateral margins of pleonites subparallel 
and arching posteriorly. 
Keywords. Crustacea, Isopoda, Cymothoidae, Smenispa irregularis , taxonomy, Western Australia, 
Acanthopagrus latus 
Martin, Melissa B., Niel L. Bruce, and Barbara F. Nowak. 2014. Smenispa irregularis (Bleeker, 1857) (Crustacea: 
Isopoda: Cymothoidae), a buccal-attaching fish parasite from Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 66(4): 
233-240, http://dx.doi.Org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.66.2014.1602 
The genus Smenispa Ozdikem, 2009 (previously known as 
Enispa Schioedte & Meinert, 1884) is one of the smaller 
and least known of the cymothoid genera with only two 
species listed in The World Register for Marine Species 
(Bruce, 2013). There have been few records of Smenispa 
since its original description (as Enispa Schioedte & 
Meinert, 1884) and its host preferences and geographical 
distribution remain little known. 
Smenispa convexa (Richardson, 1905) was first recorded 
from Panama from an unknown host (Richardson, 1905). 
Fifty years later, Menzies et al. (1955) thoroughly reviewed 
the life history and host-parasite relationship of Smenispa 
convexa (as Livoneca convexa ). The species was reported 
from Pacific bumper Chloroscombrus orqueta Jordan & 
Gilbert, 1883 from the Gulf of Panama, Gulf of Guayaquil 
and Gulf of Fonseca (Fig. 1). Brusca (1981) designated 
* author for correspondence 
