''Ceratothoa'' is a genus of
isopod
Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...
ectoparasites of
teleost fish
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Tel ...
,
first described by
James Dwight Dana in 1852.
[ Infection by ''Ceratothoa'' can cause ]anaemia
Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
, lesions, growth retardation, emaciation, and mortality in their fish hosts.
Species
Currently, 26 valid species in this genus are recognized:[
''C. carinata'' and ''C. oxyrrhynchaena'' were redescribed in 2013,]species inquirenda
In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century.
The term t ...
e'':[
* ''Ceratothoa contracta'' (Miers, 1880)
* ''Ceratothoa deplanata'' Bovallius, 1885
* ''Ceratothoa gaudichaudii'' (H. Milne Edwards, 1840) (previously known as ''Ceratothoa rapax'' Heller, 1865)]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4411991
Cymothoida
Isopod genera
Parasitic crustaceans
Taxa named by James Dwight Dana