Ceratothoa oestroides

Ceratothoa oestroides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Family: Cymothoidae
Genus: Ceratothoa
Species:
C. oestroides
Binomial name
Ceratothoa oestroides
(Risso, 1826)
Synonyms[1]
  • Canolira oestroides Risso, 1826
  • Ceratothoa sargorum Gourret, 1891

Ceratothoa oestroides is a crustacean isopod,[1] obligate ectoparasite of marine fish that dwells in the buccal cavity. It is the causative agent of various pathologies including tissue damage at the parasitisation site (tongue), growth defects, decrease in mean host weight and size and increases mortalities in farmed and wild fish populations.[2]  It has been recorded in six different fish families: Sparidae (Boops boops, Diplodus annularis, Pagelus erythrinus, Spicara smaris, Sparus aurata), Carangidae (Trachurus mediterraneus), Clupeidae (Sardina pilchardus), Maenidae, Scorpenidae (Scorpaena notata, Scorpaena porcus), and Mugilidae (Liza aurata).[3][4]

Fig 1: Adult female Ceratothoa oestroides settled in the buccal cavity of the juvenile European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax).

Adult male and female mate in the host buccal cavity (Fig. 1). Embryos develop in the female marsupium, where offspring pass through different pullus stages until they are released from the marsupium as free swimming manca, ready for infecting fish hosts. C. oestroides is one of the most devastating ectoparasites in Mediterranean aquaculture, with an unequal distribution along different geographical areas[5][6][7][8]

  1. ^ a b Schotte M, Boyko CB, Bruce NL, Poore GC, Taiti S, Wilson GD, eds. (2021). "Ceratothoa oestroides (Risso, 1826)". World Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. ^ Adlard, R. D.; Lester, R. J. G. (September 1994). "Dynamics of the interaction between the parasitic isopod, Anilocra pomacentri, and the coral reef fish, Chromis nitida". Parasitology. 109 (3): 311–324. doi:10.1017/S0031182000078343. PMID 7970888.
  3. ^ Charfi-Cheikhrouha, F.; Zghidi, W.; Yarba, L. O.; Trilles, J. P. (2000). "Le Cymothoidae (Isopods parasites de poissons) des cotes tunisiennes: ecologie et indices parasitologiques". Systematic Parasitology. 46 (2): 143–150. doi:10.1023/A:1006336516776. PMID 10830837. S2CID 35895535.
  4. ^ Trilles, J.P.; Radujkovic, B.M. & Romestand, B. (1989). "Parasites des Poissons marins du Montenegro: isopods". Acta Adriatica. 30 (1/2): 279–306.
  5. ^ Horton, T; Okamura, B (2001). "Cymothoid isopod parasites in aquaculture: a review and case study of a Turkish sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus auratus) farm". Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 46 (3): 181–188. doi:10.3354/dao046181. PMID 11710552.
  6. ^ Mladineo, I. (2002). "Prevalance of Ceratothoa oestroides (Risso, 1826), a cymothoid isopode parasite, in cultured sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax L. on two farms in middle Adriatic Sea". Acta Adriatica. 43: 97–102.
  7. ^ Vagianou, S.; Athanassopoulou, F.; Ragias, V.; Di Cave, D.; Leontides, L.; Golomazou, E. (2006). "Prevalence and pathology of ectoparasites of Mediterranean sea bream and sea bass reared under different environmental and aquaculture conditions". Israeli Journal of Aquaculture. 60: 128–133. hdl:10524/19164.
  8. ^ Čolak, Slavica; Kolega, Matko; Mejdandžić, Danijel; Župan, Ivan; Šarić, Tomislav; Piplović, Edi; Mustać, Bosiljka (February 2018). "Prevalence and effects of the cymothoid isopod (Ceratothoa oestroides, Risso 1816) on cultured meagre (Argyrosomus regius, Asso 1801) in the Eastern Adriatic Sea". Aquaculture Research. 49 (2): 1001–1007. doi:10.1111/are.13547.