Occurrence of Donsiella limnoriae Stephensen (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) in the Southampton Area

Abstract

Donsiella limnoriae was first described by Stephensen¹ in 1936 from some 20 specimens which had been found in association with Limnoria lignorum at Trondheim, Norway. Since then this species does not appear to have been found again, hence its occurrence in waters near Southampton is of interest. Three females were found on Limnoria tripunctata collected at Cowes, Isle of Wight, and three females and two males from L. quadripunctata at Calshot. The ‘infection’ was very low, at least during October when the collections were made. Only three Donsiella were taken from 220 L. tripunctata from Cowes and five from 69 L. quadripunctata at Calshot. While the specimens collected near Southampton could undoubtedly be identified as Donsiella limnoriae Stephensen, they show certain differences in structure from the description of the Norwegian specimens.