squid eggs infected with parasitic copepod Ikanecator primus gen. et sp. nov.

In this study, we identify new species of parasitic copepod that causes squid mortality and decreases squid hatching rates, and we also offer a solution to eliminate the pathogen during incubation of squid eggs. The newly discovered copepod Ikanecator primus gen. et sp. nov. was identified on oval squid eggs for the first time using both morphological and molecular diagnostic markers. We identified multiple genes for enzymes involved in cephalopod egg shell degradation in genomes of the copepod and associated microbiome.