, a cymothoid isopod parasitizing the belonid fish from the Malabar Coast (Kerala, India): redescription, description, prevalence and life cycle.

Background: Milne Edward, 1840 is a very poorly described cymothoid, notwithstanding the previous redescription of the female. Pertinently, to date, the host of has not been identified with adequate precision. Most of the descriptions of cymothoids carried out hitherto were based primarily on females, but practically ignoring other life cycle stages. The present paper redescribes the female and describes other life cycle stages of the species toget better precision in their identification.

Results: The female phase of is redescribed according to type specimens extant in the NMNH, Paris, and also by the data obtained from live specimens collected during the present study. The general morphology and appendages of various life cycle stages of the species are described. Among 80 fish species from 35 families examined, wasrecovered only from signifyingits oligoxenous host specificity, the prevalence and intensity being 68.65% and 1.9, respectively Each host fish in more than 85% of the population was infested with a pair of , in three combinations, predominantly with male-female pair (70.9%). exhibitedstrict site specificity attaching to the buccal cavity of the host fish. The study has also identified three major phases (marsupial, free living and infective) in the life cycle of The zygotic-staged marsupiumites were developed through five sequential ontogenetic stages. The manca released from the marsupium become infective aftera brief period of free swimming life. During the infective phase, completesremaining life cycle stages with successive moulting. Further, six successive stages of the ovigerous females have also been identified.

Conclusions: Thepresent redescription of the female and the description of transitional, male, juvenile and larvae of facilitate precise identification of the species at any stage of the life cycle. Further, the strict host and site specificitiesof the parasite, as borne out from the present study, and its high degree of prevalence in the host make as an ideal model organism to study the strategies to be adopted for the management of parasites infesting edible fishes.