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Family MONOCOTYLIDAE Taschenberg, 1879

Introduction

The Monocotylidae Taschenberg, 1879 is a family of monogeneans that currently includes over 100 species that are parasitic exclusively on chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras). Monocotylids are unique because members inhabit many different sites on their chondrichthyan hosts including the skin, gills, nasal tissues, cloaca, rectum, rectal gland and even the inner wall of the body cavity (from Chisholm et al., 2001).

 

Diagnosis

Three apomorphic characters identified by Chisholm et al (2001) support the monophyly of the Monocotylidae: a haptor with one central and eight peripheral loculi, an ovary which loops around the right intestinal caecum and tetrahedral eggs.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
12-Feb-2010 (import)