''Cymothoa'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
parasitic
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 c ...
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 ...
crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...
s, containing the species listed below.
Not all ''Cymothoa'' species are considered parasitic. Some climb onto fish in an act known as
phoresy
Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, Commensalism, commensalistic interaction in which one organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in Acari ...
.
*''
Cymothoa asymmetrica''
Pillai, 1954
*''
Cymothoa borbonica''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa brasiliensis''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa bychowskyi''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa carangii''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa carryensis''
Gourret, 1892
*''
Cymothoa catarinensis''
Thatcher, Loyola e Silva, Jost & Souza-Conceiçao, 2003
*''
Cymothoa cinerea''
Bal & Joshi, 1959
*''
Cymothoa curta''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa dufresni''
Leach, 1818
*''
Cymothoa elegans''
Bovallius, 1885
*''
Cymothoa epimerica''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa eremita''
(Brunnich, 1783)
*''
Cymothoa excisa''
Perty, 1833
*''
Cymothoa exigua
''Cymothoa exigua'', or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It enters fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue, while the male attaches to the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Fe ...
''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa eximia''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa frontalis''
H. Milne-Edwards, 1840
*''
Cymothoa gadorum''
Brocchi, 1875
*''
Cymothoa gerris''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa gibbosa''
Gourret, 1892
*''
Cymothoa globosa''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa guadeloupensis''
Fabricius, 1793
*''
Cymothoa hermani''
Hadfield, Bruce & Smit, 2011
*''
Cymothoa ianuarii''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa ichtiola''
(Brünnich, 1764)
*''
Cymothoa indica''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa liannae''
Sartor & Pires, 1988
*''
Cymothoa limbata''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa marginata''
Bleeker, 1857
*''
Cymothoa nigropunctata''
Risso, 1816
*''
Cymothoa oestrum''
(Linnaeus, 1758)
*''
Cymothoa paradoxa''
Haller, 1880
*''
Cymothoa parupenei''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa plebeia''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa propria''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa pulchrum''
Lanchester, 1902
*''
Cymothoa recifea''
Thatcher & Fonseca, 2005
*''
Cymothoa recta''
Dana, 1853
*''
Cymothoa rhina''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa rotunda''
Avdeev, 1979
*''
Cymothoa rotundifrons''
Haller, 1880
*''
Cymothoa scopulorum''
(Linnaeus, 1758)
*''
Cymothoa selari''
Avdeev, 1978
*''
Cymothoa slusarskii''
Rokicki, 1986
*''
Cymothoa spinipalpa''
Thatcher, de Arujo, de Lima & Chellapa, 2007
*''
Cymothoa truncata''
Schiödte & Meinert, 1884
*''
Cymothoa vicina''
Hale, 1926
References
Cymothoida
{{Isopod-stub