''Atriostella'' is a
genus which belongs to the
family Microcotylidae and
class Monogenea. As all Monogenea, species of ''Atriostella'' are
ectoparasite
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 ...
s that affect their host by attaching themselves as
larvae on the
gills of the
fish and grow into adult stage. This larval stage is called
oncomiracidium, and is characterized as free swimming and
ciliated.
This genus was proposed by Unnithan in 1971 who included in this genus two subgenera: the subgenus ''Atriostella'' with a single middorsal unarmed vaginal pore; and the subgenus ''Biplacunella'' with a ventral cuticular post-atrial body plaque and a much wider dorsal plaque behind the two unarmed vulvae.
Members of the genus ''Atriostella'' are characterised by a generally symmetrical haptor, a genital atrium armed with erect long spines of and a muscular penis lobed or not and entirely unarmed.
[Unnithan, R. V. (1971). On the functional morphology of a new fauna of Monogenoidea on fishes from Trivandrum and environs. Part IV. Microcotylidae sensu stricto and its repartition into subsidiary taxa. American Midland Naturalist, 366-398.]
Species
According to the World Register of Marine Species,
[WoRMS (2019). ''Atriostella'' Unnithan, 1971. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=717522 on 2019-11-27] 2 species have been attached to this genus:
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q61486340
Microcotylidae
Monogenea genera