''Acanthochondria limandae'' is a species of

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s in the family

Chondracanthidae Chondracanthidae is a family of parasitic copepods, usually found infecting the branchial chamber of demersal fishes. It comprises the following genera: *'' Acanthocanthopsis'' Heegaard, 1945 *'' Acanthochondria'' Oakley, 1930 *'' Acanthochondri ...

. They are

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

-specific

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s of two species of

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish order (biology), order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the ...

: the common dab ('' Limanda limanda'') and the European flounder (''

Platichthys flesus The European flounder (''Platichthys flesus'') is a flatfish of European coastal waters from the White Sea in the north to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south. It has been introduced into the United States and Canada accidentally th ...

''). They attach themselves to the bases of the

gill arches Branchial arches, or gill arches, are a series of bony "loops" present in fish, which support the gills. As gills are the primitive condition of vertebrates, all vertebrate embryos develop pharyngeal arches, though the eventual fate of these arc ...

of their hosts. They can infest as much as 2 to 30% of fish in a given population. ''Acanthochondria limandae'' was first described by the Danish zoologist Henrik Nikolai Krøyer in 1863 as ''Chondracanthus limandae''.

References

Cyclopoida Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Parasitic crustaceans Ectoparasites Animal parasites of fish Taxa named by Henrik Nikolai Krøyer Crustaceans described in 1863 {{copepod-stub