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Ommatokoita

Summary

Ommatokoita is a monotypic genus of copepods, the sole species being Ommatokoita elongata.[1] However, a specimen has been found on the skin of Etmopterus princeps, which has been assigned to the genus but not the species.[2]

Ommatokoita
On a Greenland shark
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Copepoda
Order: Siphonostomatoida
Family: Lernaeopodidae
Genus: Ommatokoita
Leigh-Sharpe, 1926
Species:
O. elongata
Binomial name
Ommatokoita elongata
(Grant, 1827)
Synonyms[1]
  • Lernaea elongata Grant, 1827
  • Ommatokoita superba Leigh-Sharpe, 1926

Ommatokoita elongata is a 30 mm (1.2 in) long pinkish-white parasitic copepod, frequently found permanently attached to the corneas of the Greenland shark and Pacific sleeper shark.[3][4][5] The parasites cause severe visual impairment, but it is thought that the sharks do not rely on keen eyesight for their survival.[4] It was speculated that the copepod may be bioluminescent and thus form a mutualistic relationship with the shark by attracting prey, but this hypothesis has not been verified.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Walter TC, Boxshall G (eds.). "Ommatokoita Leigh-Sharpe, 1926". World of Copepods database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  2. ^ Hogans, W. E.; Brattey, John (1986). "Ommatokoita sp. (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae) parasitic on a demersal shark, Etmopterus princeps, from the northwest Atlantic Ocean". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 64 (4): 833–835. doi:10.1139/z86-124. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  3. ^ Borucinska, J. D.; Benz, G. W.; Whiteley, H. E. (1998). "Ocular lesions associated with attachment of the parasitic copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Grant) to corneas of Greenland sharks, Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider)". Journal of Fish Diseases. 21 (6): 415–22. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2761.1998.00122.x.
  4. ^ a b Benz, George W.; Borucinska, Joanna D.; Lowry, Lloyd F.; Whiteley, Herbert E. (2002). "Ocular lesions associated with attachment of the copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Lernaeopodidae: Siphonostomatoida) to corneas of Pacific sleeper sharks Somniosus pacificus captured off Alaska in Prince William Sound". The Journal of Parasitology. 88 (3): 474–81. doi:10.1645/0022-3395(2002)088[0474:OLAWAO]2.0.CO;2. PMID 12099414.
  5. ^ Martin, R. Aidan (October 4, 1998). "Greenland sharks and parasites".
  6. ^ Berland, Bjørn (1961). "Copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Grant) in the eyes of the Greenland shark—a possible cause of mutual dependence". Nature. 191 (4790): 829–30. Bibcode:1961Natur.191..829B. doi:10.1038/191829a0. S2CID 4262630.