Abstract:
The occurrence of the copepod Lamproglena cleopatra Humes, 1957, parasitising freshwater fishes in the Limpopo River System is presented, along with new morphological data. This crustacean was originally described parasitising a cyprinid
(Labeo forskalii Ru¨ppell) from the River Nile, Egypt. During 2014–2015 crustacean samples were collected from the gills of three cyprinid fish species, Labeo rosae Steindachner from Flag Boshielo Dam, Labeo molybdinus Du Plessis from Nwanedi-Luphephe Dam in South Africa, and Labeo ruddi Boulenger from the
River Bubye in Zimbabwe. The specimens from the present study were morphologically similar regardless of the host, but exhibited some morphometric intraspecific differences in comparison with the typespecimen from Egypt. A description of L. cleopatra
copepodid III stage and a taxonomic key to Lamproglena spp. is provided.
