Two new species of Ergasilidae (Copepoda: Poecilostomatoida) parasitic on Mugil cephalus L. from southern Africa

Two new species of Ergasilidae are described from southern Africa; a representative of the genus Dermoergasilus Ho et Do, 1982 on the gill rackers and one of Ergasilus von Nordmann, 1932 on the gill filaments of the striped mullet, Mugil cephalus L. The striped mullet, Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, has a wide geographical distribution and is parasitized by more than 40 different species of parasitic copepods (Ho & Do, 1982). It acts as host for seven species of Ergasilidae, i.e. Diergasilus kasahari Do, 1981, Dermoergasilus amplectens (Dogiel et Akhmerov, 1952), Ergasilus seiboldi von Nordmann, 1832, Nipergasilus bora (Yamaguti, 1939) and Ergasilus lizae Kroyer, 1963, Ergasilus mugilis Vogt, 1879 and Ergasilus cyanopictus Carvalho, 1962. Ergasilids have been reported from mullets on the African continent, i.e. E. lizae from Tunisia (Raibaut, Ben-Hassine & Prunes, 1975) and Ghana (Paperna, 1969). The present study has shown that two new species of Ergasilidae occur on the southern periphery of the continent, which are described below. Type specimens were deposited in the collection of the Dept. of Zoology, Rand Afrikaans University.