Cymothoidae

Cymothoidae
Anilocra physodes on a black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Superfamily: Cymothooidea
Family: Cymothoidae
Leach, 1818 [1]
Genera

c. 40; see text

The Cymothoidae are a family of isopods in the suborder Cymothoida found in both marine and freshwater environments. Cymoithoids are ectoparasites, usually of fish, and they include the bizarre "tongue-biter" (Cymothoa exigua), which attaches to a fish's tongue, causing it to atrophy, and replaces the tongue with its own body.[2] Ceratothoa oestroides is one of the most devastating ectoparasites in Mediterranean aquaculture. Around 40 genera and more than 380 species of cymothoid are recognised.[3] Species of the Cymothoidae are generally found in warmer waters and rarely in the cool and cold climates.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WoRMS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ R. C. Brusca; M. R. Gilligan (1983). "Tongue replacement in a marine fish (Lutjanus guttatus) by a parasitic isopod (Crustacea: Isopoda)". Copeia. 1983 (3): 813–816. doi:10.2307/1444352. JSTOR 1444352.
  3. ^ Srour, Marc (2012-07-13). "Tongue Biters and Deep Sea Giants: The Cymothoida (Crustacea: Isopoda)". Teaching Biology. Archived from the original on 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  4. ^ Brusca, Richard C. (1981). "A monograph on the Isopoda Cymothoidae (Crustacea) of the eastern Pacific". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 73 (2): 117–199. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01592.x.