title: A new species of marine leech (Hirudinida: Piscicolidae) from giant kelpfish, Heterostichus rostratus Girard, in southern California.
abstract: Collections of giant kelpfish at inner Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro, California revealed the presence of an undescribed species of Heptacyclus, described here as Heptacyclus cabrilloi n. sp. The leech is small, only up to 14 mm total length including suckers; it has 2 pair of slightly crescentiform eyes on the oral sucker, 1 pair of punctiform ocelli on the second annulus of the trachelosome, 13 pairs of punctiform ocelli dorsally and ventrally on the urosome, and 14 marginal punctiform ocelli on the caudal sucker. Pigmentation is yellowish-tan with an unpigmented mid-dorsal stripe on both trachelosome and urosome, and with unpigmented halos around eyespots and urosome ocelli. Male reproductive system with 5 pairs of large, spherical testisacs. Mycetomes present, accessory gland cells on atrial cornu absent. Prevalence was 24.1% in June, 2011 with a range of 1-2 leeches per fish and 25.8% in October, 2011 with a range of 1-6 leeches per fish.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA. gene@vims.edu
authors.forename: Eugene M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Burreson
authors.forename: Julianne Kalman
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Passarelli
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D007865:Leeches / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008297:Male; D010473:Perciformes / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence