Lethacotyle | |
---|---|
Holotype of Lethacotyle fijiensis Manter & Prince, 1953 [1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
Class: | Monogenea |
Order: | Mazocraeidea |
Family: | Protomicrocotylidae |
Genus: |
Lethacotyle Manter & Price, 1953 |
Species | |
Lethacotyle is a
genus of
polyopisthocotylean
monogeneans, included in the family
Protomicrocotylidae.
The genus includes only two species:
Lethacotyle fijiensis Manter & Price, 1953
[2]
, the type-species of the genus, and
Lethacotyle vera
Justine, Rahmouni, Gey, Schoelinck, & Hoberg, 2013
.
[1]
Both species are parasitic on the gills of
jacks in the Pacific Ocean.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] They are known only from three localities: off
Fiji,
[2]
Andaman Islands,
[3]
[4] and
New Caledonia.
[1]
The genus Lethacotyle is special in that its members have no
clamps on their posterior attachment organ or
haptor, in contrast to most
polyopisthocotylean
Monogenean which have clamps.
[5]
[6] This is reflected in the
etymology of the name, which, according to Manter & Price
[2] is "from letha = forgetting, and cotyle = cup, and refers to the absence of clamps".