Notes on some copepod parasites in the collection of the British Museum (N.H.), London

During the course of a review of the work on the copepods parasitising Indian marine fishes (Pillai, 1965b) it was found that the correct recognition of some of the species recorded by Bassett-Smith (1898) from Indian waters is difficult because of the absence of information on details. When it is remembered that Bassett- Smith's papers were published nearly seventy years back this defect is quite understandable. But unfortunately no one seems to have taken any interest in redescribing them. During the tenure of a Royal Society and Nuffield Foundation Commonwealth Bursary I utilised part of my time to examine Bassett-Smith's collection in the British Museum (N.H.). To my regret I was able to locate only a few of them and even those present were represented by only one or two specimens each. As it was considered inadvisable to destroy these specimens, they were examined after clearing them in lactic acid. All the illustrations accompanying this paper were prepared without dissection. It is hoped that the present report will add to the usefulness of Bassett-Smith's pioneer work