Microcotyle furcata

Microcotyle furcata is a species of monogenean that is parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.[3]

Microcotyle furcata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Class: Monogenea
Order: Mazocraeidea
Family: Microcotylidae
Genus: Microcotyle
Species:
M. furcata
Binomial name
Microcotyle furcata
Linton, 1940
Synonyms

Microcotyle hiatulae Goto, 1899 [1]
Microcotyle (Microcotyle) furcata (Linton, 1940) Unnithan, 1971[2]

Systematics

Microcotyle furcata was described by Linton in 1940 from the gills of the labrid Hiatula Onitis collected near Woods Hole, off Massachusetts. [3] Microcotyle hiatulae was described 40 years earlier by Goto in 1899 from the gills of the labrid Hiatula Onitis collected near Newport, off Rhode Island. [1] Forty years later, Linton (1940) described M. furcata from the gills the same host collected near Woods Hole, off Massachusetts. [3] As Linton did not mention M. hiatulae description of M. furcata, Thoney & Munroe suggested that Linton was unaware of Goto's earlier description of M. hiatulae. [4] Thoney & Munroe examined Microcotyle specimens from T. onitis off Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Chesapeake Bay and indicated that all specimens collected from all three locations were indistinguishable from M. hiatulae. Comparison of meristic and morphometric of the holotype of M. furcata also reveals that this specimen are M. hiatulae indicating that Microcotyle furcata should be considered a junior subjective synonym of M. hiatulae'. [4] Thoney & Munroe provided a redescription and illustrations of Microcotyle hiatulae to complete the original description lacking data on intraspecific variation and some important taxonomic characters, and also described the postlarval development. [4] Thoney and Munroe's comparison of M. hiatulae with 18 other species of Microcotyle described previously from 15 host species living sympatrically with Hiatula onitis along the Atlantic coast of the United States by examination of published descriptions showed that many of the species were morphologically similar. Thoney and Munroe also noted that it was extremely difficult to identify an individual to species level in absence of host species identification.[4]

Unnithan erected the subgenus Microcotyle in which he placed Microcotyle furcata as Microcotyle (Microcotyle) furcata. [2] However, this species was returned to the genus Microcotyle by Mamaev. [5]

Description

Microcotyle furcata has the general morphology of all species of Microcotyle, with a symmetrical lanceolate body, comprising an anterior part which contains most organs and a posterior part called the haptor. The haptor is symmetrical, approximately half the length of the body proper and bears 40-48 clamps, arranged as two rows, one on each side. The clamps of the haptor attach the animal to the gill of the fish. There are also two buccal suckers at the anterior extremity. The digestive organs include an anterior, terminal mouth, a pharynx nearly circular in outline, a short oesophagus and a posterior intestine with two lateral branches hidden in large part by the vitellaria and do not extend in the haptor. Each adult contains male and female reproductive organs. The reproductive organs include an anterior spacious genital atrium , armed with numerous somewhat conical spines, a medio-dorsal vagina, a single ovary and 14-24 testes that extend from the posterior edge of the ovary to a point a little in front of the posterior end of the vitellaria. [3]

Hosts and localities

The type-host is Tautoga onitis (Labridae). The type-locality is off Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. [3]

References
  1. Goto, S. (1899). Notes on some exotic species of ectoparasitic trematodes (Vol. 12). Imperial University of Tokyo. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31156.pdf
  2. Unnithan, R. V. (1971). On the functional morphology of a new fauna of Monogenoidea on fishes from Trivandrum and environs. Part IV. Microcotylidae sensu stricto and its repartition into subsidiary taxa. American Midland Naturalist, 366-398.
  3. Linton, E. (1940). "Trematodes from fishes mainly from the Woods Hole region, Massachusetts". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 88 (3078): 1–172. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.88-3078.1. ISSN 0096-3801.
  4. Thoney, D. A., & Munroe, T. A. (1987). Microcotyle hiatulae Goto, 1900 (Monogenea), a senior synonym of M. furcata Linton, 1940, with a redescription and comments on postlarval development. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 54(1), 91-95.
  5. Mamaev, Y. L. (1986). The taxonomical composition of the family Microcotylidae Taschenberg, 1879 (Monogenea). Folia Parasitologica, 33, 199-206. PDF


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