Order DIPHYLLIDEA van Beneden in Carus, 1863

<I>Echinobothrium chisholmae</I> [from Jones & Beveridge, 2001]

Echinobothrium chisholmae [from Jones & Beveridge, 2001]

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Order DIPHYLLIDEA van Beneden in Carus, 1863

Compiler and date details

31 October 2004

Introduction

The Diphyllidea is a small order of cestodes of elasmobranch fishes characterised by the possession of two bothridia, a cephalic peduncle, a ventral genital atrium, and vitelline follicles either scattered or in lateral bands (Khalil 1994; Caira et al. 1999). Previously restricted to a single genus, Echinobothrium van Beneden, 1849, the order now consists of three families, each with a single genus. Echinobothriidae Perrier, 1897 contains Echinobothrium, while Ditrachybothriidae Schmidt, 1970 was erected for the genus Ditrachybothridium Rees, 1959 and Macrobothriidae Khalil & Abdul-Salam, 1989 was erected for the genus Macrobothridium Khalil & Abdul-Salam, 1989. A cladistic analysis of the order (Ivanov & Hoberg 1999) suggests that Macrobothridium should be included within the genus Echinobothrium, a change subsequently implemented.

The most recent review of the order by Caira et al. (2013) failed to recognise any families within the genus and hence only the Ditrachybothriiidae and Echinobothriidae of earlier authors are recognized here.