Family OTOBOTHRIIDAE Dollfus, 1942

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Introduction

The Otobothriidae are characterised by the possession of two bothria each with a pair of lateral pits or fossettes containing elongate microtriche and an armature in which there are extra hooks or bands of hooks on the external surface of the tentacle (Campbell & Beveridge 1994). The composition of the family is currently undecided. Palm (1995) created a new family, Pseudotobothriidae, for the species Ps. dipsacum, but this family was considered synonymous with Otobothriidae by Beveridge et al. (2000) based on a morphological cladistic analysis. Subsequently, Palm (2004) has separated the Psudotobothriidae from the Otobothriidae based on armature patterns, although a recent molecular study provides no support for the separation (Schaeffner & Beveridge 2011)..

Few adult cestodes are described adequately within this family making a precise definition difficult. It was recommended as a genus/family requiring further study by Beveridge et al. (1999).

General References

Beveridge, I., Campbell, R.A. & Jones, M.K. 2000. New records of the cestode genus Pseudotobothrium (Trypanorhyncha : Otobothriidae) from Australian fishes. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 124: 151-162

Beveridge, I., Campbell, R.A. & Palm, H. 1999. Preliminary cladistic analysis of the cestode order Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863. Systematic Parasitology 42: 29-49

Campbell, R.A. & Beveridge, I. 1994. Order Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863. pp. 51-148 in Khalil, L.F., Jones, A. & Bray, R.A. (eds). Keys to the Cestode Parasites of Vertebrates. Wallingford, UK : Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux International 751 pp.

Palm, H. 1995. Untersuchungen zur systematik von Rüsselbandwürmern (Cestoda Trypanorhyncha) aus atlantischen Fischen. Berichte aus dem Institut für Meereskunde, Kiel 275: 1-238

Palm, H.W. 2004. The Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863. Bogor : PKSPL-IBP Press 710 pp.

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