Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access published online on May 22, 2009
Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi:10.1093/icb/icp021
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The cryptogenic parasitic isopod Orthione griffenis Markham, 2004 from the eastern and western Pacific
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*Department of Biology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York 11549, USA; School of Life Science, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen, 041004, P. R. China
Correspondence: 1E-mail: jason.d.williams{at}hofstra.edu
Correspondence: 2E-mail: anjianmei{at}hotmail.com
The parasitic isopod Orthione griffenis Markham, 2004 was originally described from thalassinid mud shrimp hosts collected in Oregon. Subsequently, O. griffenis has been cited as a non-indigenous species in estuaries of the Pacific Northwest of North America; however, no taxonomic work has provided evidence that specimens from the western coast of the United States and other localities are conspecific. We report the first record of O. griffenis from Chinese waters based on collections made in the 1950s, which pre-date any records of the species from the United States by at least 20 years. Females of the Chinese specimens match the original description except in the number of articles on antennae 2 (six and five articles in the Chinese material and holotype, respectively). However, newly examined material from the United States showed females are variable in this character, exhibiting 5–6 articles on antennae 2. Although males of O. griffenis from Oregon were originally described as having second antennae with five articles, reexamination of the allotype showed that antennae 2 were damaged and missing terminal articles. Thus, the number of articles in the second antennae of males is six, as found in both the Chinese and new samples from the United States. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of males from USA and China revealed curled setae on the distolateral margins of the uropods, which were not reported in the original description. In China the species is found on Austinogebia wuhsienweni (Yu) from Shandong province, whereas along the western coast of North America the species extends from British Columbia to California on Upogebia pugettensis (Dana) and U. macginitieorum Williams (the latter species replacing U. pugettensis south of Pt. Conception, California). Orthione griffenis has also been reported from Japan on Upogebia issaeffi (Balss) and Austinogebia narutensis (Sakai). In Coos Bay, Oregon, the prevalence of the species was 
65% in the mature U. pugettensis. The species was presumably introduced as larvae released in ballast water from ships originating in Asia. The epicaridium larvae of O. griffenis were examined with SEM, and aspects of the life history of the species are reviewed.
From the symposium "The Biology of the Parasitic Crustacea" presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 3–7, 2009, at Boston, Massachusetts.
These authors contributed equally to this work.