''Lethacotyle fijiensis'' is a species of

monogenea Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reprod ...

ns of the family

Protomicrocotylidae Protomicrocotylidae is a family of monogenean parasites in the order Mazocraeidea. The type-genus of the family is ''Protomicrocotyle''. The genus was created in 1922 by Thomas Harvey Johnston and Oscar Werner Tiegs for a worm previously des ...

. The species is ectoparasitic on the gills of an unknown

carangid The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the only famil ...

fish identified in the original publication as "yellow jack". It is the type-species of the

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 ...

Lethacotyle ''Lethacotyle'' is a genus of polyopisthocotylean monogeneans, included in the family Protomicrocotylidae. The genus includes only two species: ''Lethacotyle fijiensis'' Manter & Price, 1953 Manter, H. W. & Price, D. F. 1953: Some Monogenetic Tre ...

'' Manter & Prince, 1953. It has been described from two specimens only by Manter & Prince in 1953;Manter, H. W. & Prince, D. F. 1953: Some Monogenetic Trematodes of marine fishes from Fiji. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 20, 105-112. of these, a single specimen, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

has been kept in the US National Parasite Collections and thus was the single specimen of the species, and therefore of the genus, which was available for study. Later, another species of the same genus was described. ''L. fijiensis'' has been found only off

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

by Manter & Prince in 1953 (the material of the original description, hence the Latin species name, ''fijiensis'', meaning "from Fiji") and allegedly off

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

by Ramalingam in 1968,Ramalingam, K. 1966: A rare record of ''Lethacotyle'' (Monogenea), its post-oncomiracidial larva with observation on distribution. ''Current Science'', 35, 101-102.Ramalingam, K. 1968: A redescription of ''Lethacotyle'' (Monogenea) and its post-oncomiracidial larva. Journal of the Madras University B, 35-36, 107-114. although other authors have expressed doubt that the later author actually found the same species. Journal

The two specimens of the original material of ''L. fijiensis'' are 3.156 and 3.759 millimetres in length. The body is elongate, flat, there are numerous testes and a single ovary. The copulatory organs include a sclerotised vagina and male copulatory organ, comprising a ring of 24-25 spines which are 24 µm in length. The length of the spines of the male copulatory apparatus is the main diagnosis character of the species, which allows its separation from '' L. vera'', the only other species of the genus. The posterior part of the body of ''L. fijiensis'' is asymmetrical. It bears a terminal lappet which is striated, and there are no

clamps Clamp may refer to: Tools and devices *Brick clamp, an early method of baking bricks *Clamp (tool), a device or tool used to hold objects in a fixed relative position (many types listed) ** C-clamp ** C-clamp (stagecraft) **Riser clamp, a device ...

- this is a characteristic of the

''.

References

External links

Zoobank record for ''Lethacotyle fijiensis''
* Gibson, D. (2013). ''Lethacotyle fijiensis'' Manter & Price, 1953. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species a
http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=718228
on 2013-11-29

PLoSONE Blog: "Fish beware: a new species of parasite is discovered"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15279570 Polyopisthocotylea Fauna of Fiji Animals described in 1953