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 ...
of
parasitic
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 ent ...
copepod
Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...
s. The females are typically large and fleshy, and attach to the host permanently using a plug made of
chitin
Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...
called the ''bulla''. The males cling on to the females using their antennae. They parasitize both marine and freshwater fish. Some lernaeopodids, including '' Clavella'' and '' Salmincola'', can have negative impacts on fish in aquaculture.
Genera
The family contains the following genera:
* '' Acespadia'' Leigh-Sharpe, 1933
* ''
Achtheres
''Achtheres'' is a genus of arthropods
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium ca ...
'' Nordmann, 1832
* ''
Alella
Alella () is a village in the ''comarca'' of Maresme in
Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast on the southwest side of the granite Catalan Coastal Range. The town is known for its
wines, cava and perfumes, but is also a commuter town ...
Ommatokoita
''Ommatokoita'' is a monotypic genus of copepods, the sole species being ''Ommatokoita elongata''. However, a specimen has been found on the skin of the great lanternshark (''Etmopterus princeps''), which has been assigned to the genus but not t ...