ERGASILUS THATCHERI N. SP. (COPEPODA, POECILOSTOMATOIDA, ERGASILIDAE) FROM THE GILLS OF RHAMDIA QUELEN (TELEOSTEI, SILURIFORMES, PIMELODIDAE) FROM SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The female of Ergasilus thatcheri n. sp. (Copepoda, Poecilostomatoida, Ergasilidae) is described from the gills of the “jundiá,” Rhamdia quelen (Teleostei, Siluriformes, Pimelodidae), from fish ponds in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The new species has a falciform semipinnate terminal seta on the first exopod, which suggests phylogenetic affinity to 10 other congeners, all from fishes of the Amazon Basin. Based on general morphology, the new species shows great similarity to E. callophysus Thatcher and Boeger, 1984, a parasite of another pimelodid fish Callophysus macropterus. Ergasilus thatcheri n. sp., however, can be easily differentiated from E. callophysus in its possession of a more distal sensillum not located on a cuticular elevation, and a row of spinules on the inner margin of the second antennal segment (first endopodal segment).