''Atriostella'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

which belongs to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Microcotylidae Microcotylidae is a family of polyopisthocotylean monogeneans.WoRMS (2018). Microcotylidae Taschenberg, 1879. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=119247 on 2018-12-03 All the species in this family are parasitic on ...

and

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

Monogenea Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, 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 ...

. As all Monogenea, species of ''Atriostella'' are

ectoparasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s that affect their host by attaching themselves as

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e on the

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

of the

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and grow into adult stage. This larval stage is called

oncomiracidium An oncomiracidium is the ciliated and free-living larva of a monogenean, a type of parasitic flatworm commonly found on fish. It is similar to the miracidium of Trematoda Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as trematodes, and commonly as ...

, and is characterized as free swimming and

ciliated The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike pr ...

. 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