New records of <i>Nucellicola</i> Lamb, Boxshall, Mill & Grahame, 1996 (Copepoda: Chitonophilidae) from true whelks (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) in the Russian Arctic

The Chitonophilidae is a family of exclusively parasitic copepods that utilize various molluscs as hosts. Nucellicola is a monotypic genus of endoparasitic copepods found to parasitise the predatory dog whelk Nucella lapillus, showing a limited distribution along the east coast of the United Kingdom. Here, Nucellicola is reported for the first time from the Russian Arctic, in both the White Sea and Barents Sea, representing a significant range extension for the genus. The Arctic specimens were discovered during dissection of two members of the Buccinidae (true whelks), the common whelk, Buccinum undatum, and the common neptune, Neptunea despecta. Preliminary results based on 18S rDNA sequence data suggest the newly discovered chitonophilids likely represent two distinct species, different from Nucellicola holmanae but this requires confirmation with additional molecular markers.