It is cotton like structure attached to the abdomen of the pontellid copepod Labidocera pavo collected from the Red Sea during night collection. Thanks in advance.
Consider the parasitic dinoflagellates. Tantulocarida unlikely for other than deep sea hosts.
are these females? and is this attached on the back of the urosome or between the legs and urosome? it looks like egg sacs that have a bacterial infection
They look like infected eggs but it's hard to tell in the photo. An emerged mass of Paradinium is also a possibility. If you preserved the animals, you could take a higher mag photo as that wouild help with identification.
thank You all for Your valuable comments. We will continue following Your suggestions and will inform You about identification success. Or ask again for Your help
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