''Echinoplectanum'' 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 ...

monopisthocotylea The Monopisthocotylea are an inferior class of parasitic flatworms in the class Monogenea.WoRMS (2019). Monopisthocotylea. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=119219 on 2019-02-08 Yamaguti, S. (1963). Systema Helmi ...

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 ...

ns in the family

Diplectanidae The Diplectanidae are a family of monopisthocotylean monogeneans. They are all parasitic on the gills of fish (marine or freshwater). Diplectanids are small animals, generally around 1 mm in length. As parasites, they can be extremely numero ...

. All its species are

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

on the

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, 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 r ...

s of

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 ...

; hosts recorded to date are all

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

s (Family

Serranidae Serranidae is a large family (biology), family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, ...

), including coralgroupers (genus ''

Plectropomus ''Plectropomus'', commonly known as the coral groupers, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are found in the Indo-Pa ...

'') and the Dusky grouper (''

Epinephelus marginatus ''Epinephelus marginatus'' (), the dusky grouper, yellowbelly rock cod or yellowbelly grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the ...

''). So far, species of ''Echinoplectanum'' have been recorded only from fish caught off

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. The type-species of the genus is '' Echinoplectanum laeve'' Justine &

Euzet Euzet (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; ; ) is the southernmost Regions of France, administrative region ...

, 2006.

Etymology

The generic name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, "plaited, twisted", in reference to its squamodiscs, and , "hedgehog", in reference to its cirral spines.

Species

Species include: *'' Echinoplectanum chauvetorum'' Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum echinophallus'' (

& Oliver, 1965) Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum laeve'' Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum leopardi'' Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum plectropomi'' (Young, 1969) Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum pudicum'' Justine &

, 2006 *'' Echinoplectanum rarum'' Justine &

, 2006

References

Diplectanidae Monogenea genera {{Monogenea-stub