Publication Date:
2021-06-21
Description:
A new species of giant unicellular parasite inhabiting the gills of squid hloroteuthis robusta is described from specimens collected from the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Hochbergia
moroteuthensis gen. et sp. nov. belongs to a recently reported group of protistans whose taxonomic affinities are as yet unknown. Members of the group parasitize cephalopods and have a characteristic aspect: most of the body wall is raised into close-fitting triangular plates and there is a holdfast region, devoid of plates, by which the parasites attach to the host. H. moroteuthensis is the first species of the group to be named. The general form of the body, the precise number and arrangement of plates, and
the morphology of the holdfast reglon are described.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text