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Rediscovery of Chonopeltis meridionalis Fryer, 1964 (Crustacea: Branchiura) from Labeo rosae Steindachner in the River Olifants, Mpumalanga, and the taxonomic status of C. victori Avenant-Oldewage, 1991 and C. koki Van As, 1992

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Abstract

Chonopeltis Thiele, 1900 presently comprises 14 species, it is endemic to Africa and its species show a high degree of host-specificity towards fish families and in some cases, individual fish species. Chonopeltis meridionalis Fryer, 1964 was originally described from Labeo rosae Steindachner collected in the River Nuanetsi in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Limpopo River System. At the time of description C. meridionalis was the most southerly species of the genus. Chonopeltis victori Avenant-Oldewage, 1991 was described from the River Olifants, Mpumalanga, South Africa, which also forms part of the Limpopo River System. The host fish was Labeo rosae and Labeobarbus marequensis (A. Smith), whilst C. koki Van As, 1992 was described from Labeo cylindricus Peters, collected in the River Zambezi, Eastern Caprivi, Namibia. During surveys conducted in 2012, additional material of a species of Chonopeltis was collected from Labeo rosae in the River Olifants. Upon closer examination, the new material was identified as C. meridionalis. Further investigation revealed that C. victori and C. koki share a number of characteristics with C. meridionalis. This paper provides the first scanning electron microscopy of C. meridionalis, includes additional information on fully-mature as well as sub-adult males and females. Finally, it was concluded that C. victori and C. koki are junior synonyms of C. meridionalis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Professor Annemarie Avenant-Oldewage from the University of Johannesburg, for making material of C. victori available for examination; Aquatic Ecology, University of the Free State (UFS) for the opportunity to examine C. koki material; The Natural History Museum, London, for the loan of C. brevis in 1993 as well as C. meridionalis in 2016. Professor Victor Wepener, from North-West University (NWU), for assisting in the collection of the material used in the present study. The authors wish to thank the Scientific Services of the South African National Parks Board (SANParks) for logistical support during the study and Dr. Wynand Malherbe, NWU, for generating the study site map. This is contribution number 200 from the NWU-Water Research Group.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa (Project K5-1922, N. J. Smit, PI) for the financial support of this study. Views expressed are those of the authors and not those of the WRC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa

    Liesl L. van As & Jo G. van As

  2. Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom, South Africa

    Nico J. Smit

Authors
  1. Liesl L. van As
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  2. Nico J. Smit
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  3. Jo G. van As
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Correspondence to Liesl L. van As.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. This study received the relevant ethical approval (North-West University Ethics Approval No.: NWU-00095-12-A4) as well as approval to do research from Kruger National Park Scientific Services.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection Arthropoda.

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van As, L.L., Smit, N.J. & van As, J.G. Rediscovery of Chonopeltis meridionalis Fryer, 1964 (Crustacea: Branchiura) from Labeo rosae Steindachner in the River Olifants, Mpumalanga, and the taxonomic status of C. victori Avenant-Oldewage, 1991 and C. koki Van As, 1992. Syst Parasitol 94, 797–807 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-017-9737-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-017-9737-1

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