Attached to chinook salmon caught while winter trolling
SPECIES: Monogram Isopod,[1] Rocinella signata Schioedte and Meinert, 1879[2]
DATE, TIME: 6 July 2023, 9:44 AM
LOCALITY: Dry Tortogas, Florida USA
LATITUDE, LONGITUDE: 24.628397, -82.872851
REMARKS: Since oridgen10 iNaturalist #171482926 did not identify or report this isopod, we will do so from the photograph.
NEW HOST: Neon Goby,[3] Elacatinus oceanops Jordan, 1904[2]
NEW ATTACHMENT POSITION: The Monogram Isopod usually attaches in the gills of medium-sized to large fishes. Rarely, it attaches externally and even more rarely on small fishes. The upper lobe of the caudal fin is a new location.
DAMAGE: Sometimes harms aquaculture fishes. They rarely bite and try to feed off humans. We have seen 3 cases (unpubl. data). In one occasion off Colombia they attacked scuba divers in a mass swarm (Garzon-Ferreira, 1990). iNaturalist #115654586, dylancreatures, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, Miami, FL, US; Lat, Long: 25.734559, -80.156863. Bit and chased by a Monogram Isopod (Fig. 2).
IMPORTANCE: New Host, New Locality, and New Attachment Position Records for the Monogram Isopod. Attack humans.
OBSERVERS: Dr. Ernest H. Williams, Jr.,[4,5,7,8] and Dr. Lucy Bunkley-Williams[4,6,7,9]
REFERENCES:
<>Bunkley-Williams, L. and E. H. Williams, Jr. 1998. Isopods associated with fishes: a synopsis and corrections. Journal of Parasitology 84: 893-896.
<>Bunkley-Williams L., E. H. Williams, Jr. and A. K. M. Bashirullah. 2006. Isopods (Isopoda: Aegidae, Cymothoidae, Gnathiidae) associated with Venezuelan marine fishes (Elasmobranchii, Actinopterygii). 54: 175-188.
<>Garzon-Ferreira, J. (1990): An isopod, Rocinela signata (Crustacea: Isopoda: Aegidae), that attacks humans. Bulletin of Marine Sciences 46: 813-815.
<>Williams, E. H., Jr., L. Bunkley-Williams, and M. J. Dowgiallo. 2009. Consistent attachment by the Monogram Isopod, Rocinela signata (Isopoda: Aegidae)on the Bluestriped Grunt, Haemulon sciurus at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize and a Host List. Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems, National Museum of Natural History, CCRE Reports, 31-32.
<>Williams, E. H., Jr. and L. Bunkley-Williams. 2024a. Goby Copepod (New Common Name), Pharodes tortugenus Wilson, reproducing in a public aquarium, relatively host-specific to gobies, and New Host on Neon Gobies, Elacatinus oceanops Jordan, at the Mote Marine Lab Aquarium. Research Quality Report, iNaturalist #200402799, 23 February (open access) [926] ResearchGate
<>Williams, E. H., Jr. and L. Bunkley-Williams. 2024b. New Host, Locality, and Attachment Position for Monogram Isopod, Rocinella signata Schioedte and Meinert, 1879, that attacks humans, and with common name accepted. Research Quality Report, iNaturalist #???, 28 February (open access) [928] ResearchGate.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]Our Common Name refers to the “M” on its tail. Seems to have generally been accepted. [2]Identification was peer-reviewed, text edited and sometimes condensed. The entire, original text is in our available reprint 928. [3]Confusingly, “Neon Goby” is a species and “neon gobies” represent a genus (Pharodes). [4]Extraordinary Professors, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, South Africa; Adjunct Professors, Research Field Station, Florida Gulf Coast University, 5164 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs, FL 34134; [5]Dept. Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico (retired); [6]Dept. Biology, UPR (retired); [7]920 St. Andrews Blvd, Naples, FL 34113-8943; [8]e-mail ermest.williams1@upr.edu; ORCID 0000-0003-0913-3013; [9]e-mail lucy.williams1@upr.edu, ORCID 0000-0003-1390-911x.
Figure 1. Monogram Isopod on upper lobe of caudal fin of Neon Goby.
Figure 2. Monogram Isopod on human skin; note “W” shape monogram on tail.
Outer Waitemata Harbour seashore at Orakei, Auckland.
Intertidal rocky reef. On Codium fragile.
Female Louse on head of Blackspotted Wrasse (cf preceding observation).
Uropods lateral, forming a terminal fan with pleotelson -> family Cirolanidae
Eyes meet in the middle
Telson concave with equal-length hairs
Substrate: mud
Depth: 190-230m
Aegid isopod observed on a DFO Quebec Region groundfish trawl survey. In view below is a nereid worm. Photo credit: Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
SeaTube URL of ROV video and audio: https://dmas.uvic.ca/SeaTube?resourceTypeId=1000&resourceId=23543&diveId=2621&time=2018-07-11
>>NOTE: please click the link then COPY-PASTE the following timecode to the end of the URL: T17:22:10.000Z