v6i1.126

ISSN: 1800-427X (print)
eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v6i1.126

Submitted date: 30 June 2013
Accepted date: 17 January 2014
Published date: 29 June 2014
Pp. 46.

Tachaea spongillicola (Cymothoida: Corallanidae) from West Bengal, India

M.K.D. Roy* & S. Mitra
*Corresponding author. E-mail: malay_7@rediffmail.com

The isopod Tachaea spongillicola (Corallanidae) was described by Stebbing (1907) from the freshwater sponge Eunapius carteri (formerly Spongilla carteri) at the Indian Museum Tank, Kolkata, India. Since then, this species did not appear in literature for nearly hundred years. In 2003, Mariappan et al. reported this isopod from three locations along the course of the Cauvery River near Tiruchirapalli, India. They found this species to occur on three species of prawns. However, during a recent survey at Burdwan (on 18 December 2012), the first author collected six specimens of this species (Registration Number ZSI C 6007/2) on the prawn Macrobrachium lamarrei from Damodar River at Kathgolaghat near Polempur (~2 km SE of Burdwan Town). The size of the isopod specimens varied between 7.6–8.0mm and 2.6–3.5mm. The specimens were found to fully match with the description of Stebbing (1907). Thus this endemic species is here recorded after 106 years from West Bengal.

Section Editor: Wolfgang Wägele