A NEW GENUS OF TANTULOCARIDA (CRUSTACEA) PARASITIC ON AN AMPHIPOD HOST FROM THE NORTH-SEA

A new genus of tantulocaridan crustacean, parasitic on Harpinia antenn aria, is described from the northern North Sea. This is the first reco rd of a tantulocaridan from an amphipod host. The new genus, Amphitant ulus, is characterized by the morphology of the adult parthenogenetic female, by the cephalic pore pattern, and by the plesiomorphic setatio n of the larval thoracopods. It is placed in the family Deoterthridae. The prevalence of the tantulocaridan was 22% and the number of parasi tes per infected host ranged from 1 to 64. Analysis of the distributio n of attached parasites on the host suggests that the infective larvae show an aggregated distribution at the sediment-water interface.