Pennella remorae Murray 1856

Pennella remorae Murray, 1856

(Fig. 16)

Synonyms. None

Type host and locality. Echeneis remora, Atlantic Ocean.

Morphology. Size: 99 mm. Papillae: partial coverage, generally spherical, variable in size and shape, found in distinct, organized groups. Holdfasts: three, two laterals short; dorsal horn shorter. First antenna with five segments, second with two segments. Plumes: dendritic, complex branching.

Remarks. Species inquirendae. Delamare Deboutteville and Nunes-Ruivo (1951) redescribed P. remorae from a single whole specimen collected from Echeneis remora (= E. naucrates). Original description (Murray, 1856) from a specimen (without anterior embedded portion of the parasite) collected from the same host species, also in the Atlantic Ocean. Hogans (1988a) incorrectly considered P. remorae to be a synonym of P. filosa. Although Delamare Deboutteville & Nunes-Ruivo had only a single specimen, both the description and figures are wellexecuted and show that P. remorae has several features which may distinguish it from other valid species. These include the unique host species (a remora), overall length (90mm- which places it in the intermediate size group of Pennella species), cephalothoracic papillae configured in distinct groups or bands, and a five-segmented first antenna (as far as can be determined, the only other species of Pennella with a five-segmented first antenna are P. longicauda, a much smaller species from flyingfish and P. instructa, a larger species from billfish).