Ecology of the genus Acanthochondria Oakley (Copepoda parasitica)

Extract

Among the parasites of the branchial chamber of the flatfishes of the Eastern North Atlantic, those belonging to the genus Acanthochondria (fam. Chondracanthidae, tribe Cyclopiformes) occupy a conspicuous place. Both their relatively large size and their abundance, render them easily noticeable even to a casual observer, in spite of the protective nature of their environment. It is a reflexion on the state of our knowledge of marine parasites that, not withstanding their accessibility, very little is known about the animals of this genus.

The genus Acanthochondria was erected by Oakley (Leigh-Sharpe and Oakley, 1927) for the chondracanthids, which until then were included in Chondracanthus Delaroche, 1811, and which differed from the other members of that genus in the absence of the cephalic barbs and the dorsal and ventral processes. They were also characteristic in their preference for the flatfish hosts.