''Ceratothoa'' is a genus of
isopod ectoparasites
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 ha ...
of
teleost fish,
first described by
James Dwight Dana
James Dwight Dana FRS FRSE (February 12, 1813 – April 14, 1895) was an American geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcanic activity, and the origin and structure of continent ...
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, t ...
, 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