Several associates of stylasterine corals were previously known (reviewed in the present paper) but no specialized Copepoda have been recorded thus far. Six such copepod species (described by J. H. Stock in part 2) have been found in cage-like globular galls (walls perforated) on Stylaster sanguineus (one species, from the New Hebrides), Stylaster papuensis (one species, from the Louisiade Archipelago, Papua), Conopora laevis (three species, from the Kermadec Islands and northern New Zealand), Crypthelia cryptotrema (one species, from New Caledonia). Each association appears characterized by a special type of gall, though some associations are known from one or two galls only. At least for some associations it is proved that the gall develops from a cyclosystem infested by an early stage of the copepod; the same process is assumed in the case of the remaining associations. Stylaster papuensis and Crypthelia cryptotrema, new species, are described in detail, whereas for the other host species the distribution is reviewed, including some new records. A synonymy is given for Conopora laevis.

Bijdragen tot de dierkunde

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Naturalis journals & series

Zibrowius, H. (1981). Associations of Hydrocorallia Stylasterina with gall-inhabiting Copepoda Siphonostomatoidea from the south-west Pacific. Part I. On the stylasterine hosts, including two new species, Stylaster papuensis and Crypthelia cryptotrema. Bijdragen tot de dierkunde, 51(2), 268–281.