Fish parasites from the isopod family Cymothoidae have, in recent years, received increased global attention due to both their ecological and economic importance. This is particularly true for the buccal inhabiting genus Ceratothoa Dana, 1852, whose members have been implicated in negatively impacting the health of both farmed and wild-caught fishes. As research on this group increases, so does our understanding of their host specificity and distribution. The aims of this paper were thus to review the current distribution and host records of Ceratothoa and describe a new species, Ceratothoa springbok n. sp. from South Africa. Including the new species described here, there are currently 25 accepted Ceratothoa spp. known from eight of the 12 marine biogeographical realms of the world. The majority of Cymothoidae species are known to occur in the tropical realms, whereas our analyses show that the greatest diversity of Ceratothoa spp. can be found in temperate realms. These results indicate the possibility that Ceratothoa is more diverse in temperate regions. This review also highlights the low diversity of Ceratothoa from the oceans around both North and South America. Current records indicate that species of Ceratothoa parasitise 108 fish species in 76 genera and 41 families. Eleven Ceratothoa spp. demonstrate host specificity up to host genus or family level. Amongst the hosts, members of the Sparidae are parasitised by 13 species of Ceratothoa, making it the host family with the highest diversity of parasites from this genus. The new species, C. springbok n. sp., also parasitises a sparid and was found in the buccal cavity of the carpenter seabream, Argyrozona argyrozona. This new species, the largest of all recorded Ceratothoa (up to 65 mm) and amongst the largest of all Cymothoidae, is characterised by its truncate and ventrally folded frontal margin, pereonite 1 with medial indentations, the wide anterolateral margins of pereonite 1 with an inwardly produced point, and a well-developed carina on the basis of pereopod 7. A key to the southern African Ceratothoa is provided.

近年来，来自等足类动物 Cymothoidae 的鱼类寄生虫因其生态和经济重要性而受到越来越多的全球关注。对于1852 年的颊栖栖息的Ceratothoa Dana属尤其如此，其成员对养殖和野生捕获的鱼类的健康产生负面影响。随着对这个群体的研究增加，我们对它们的宿主特异性和分布的理解也在增加。因此，本文的目的是回顾Ceratothoa的当前分布和寄主记录，并描述一个新物种，Ceratothoa springbok n。sp. 来自南非。包括这里描述的新物种，目前有 25 种被接受的Ceratothoa属 在世界 12 个海洋生物地理领域中的 8 个中已知。已知大多数 Cymothoidae 物种发生在热带地区，而我们的分析表明，Ceratothoa spp 的多样性最大。可以在温带地区找到。这些结果表明Ceratothoa在温带地区更加多样化的可能性。这篇评论还强调了来自北美和南美周围海洋的Ceratothoa的低多样性。目前的记录表明，Ceratothoa寄生于 76 属 41 科的 108 种鱼类。十一Ceratothoa属 证明宿主特异性高达宿主属或科水平。在宿主中，鲎科的成员寄生了 13 种Ceratothoa，使其成为该属寄生虫多样性最高的宿主家族。新种，C. springbok n。sp.，也寄生于鲷科鱼，被发现在木鲷的颊腔中，Argyrozona argyrozona。这个新品种，最大的全录Ceratothoa（高达 65 毫米）并且是所有 Cymothoidae 中最大的一种，其特征在于其截断和腹侧折叠的额缘，具有内侧凹痕的 pereonite 1，具有向内产生点的 pereonite 1 的宽前外侧边缘，以及发育良好的隆突在 pereopod 7 的基础上。提供了南部非洲Ceratothoa 的钥匙。