A study of parasitic crustaceans attaching themselves inside the branchial cavities (the gills) of their fish hosts was recently conducted in order to reveal potentially unrecognised diversity of the genusElthusain South Africa.
While there had only been one species known from the country, a new article published in the open-access journalZooKeysadds another three to the list.
For one of them, the research team from North-West University (South Africa): Serita van der Wal, Prof Nico Smit and Dr Kerry Hadfield, chose the name of the fictional character Xena, the warrior princess. The reason was that the females appeared particularly tough with their characteristic elongated and ovoid bodies. Additionally, the holotype (the first specimen used for the identification and description of the previously unknown species) is an egg-carrying female.
Formally recognised asElthusa xena, this new to science species is so far only known from the mouth of the Orange River, Alexander Bay, South Africa (Atlantic Ocean). It is also the onlyElthusaspecies known to parasitise the intertidal Super klipfish (Clinus supercilious). In fact, this is the first time anElthusaspecies has been recorded from any klipfish (genusClinus).
To describe the new species, the scientists loaned all South African specimens identified as, or appearing to belong to the genusElthusafrom both the French National Museum of Natural History (Paris) and the Iziko South African Museum (Cape Town).
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