/ 048-035

Pseudocharopinus markewitschi (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae) parasitic on a mottled skate, Beringraja pulchra (Rajiformes: Rajidae), in the southern Sea of Japan off western Japan

Kazuya Nagasawa and Yoshiaki Tanaka

Abstract / Introduction / Summary:

Sixteen adult females of the lernaeopodid copepod, Pseudocharopinus markewitschi (Gusev, 1951), were collected from the skin of a mottled skate, Beringraja pulchra (Liu, 1932), in the southern Sea of Japan off Gotsu, Shimane Prefecture, western Japan. This represents the second record of P. markewitschi from the Sea of Japan off the Japanese coast. This note summarizes the published information on the hosts and collection localities of P. markewitschi, indicating that the species infects skates of the Rajidae (Rajiformes) and stingrays of the Dasyatidae (Myliobatiformes) in the temperate to subarctic waters of the northern Far East, including the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, and China. A map of the geographical distribution of P. markewitschi is provided.