Triple barcoding for a hyperparasite, its parasitic host, and the host itself: a study of <i>Cyclocotyla bellones</i> (Monogenea) on <i>Ceratothoa parallela</i> (Isopoda) on <i>Boops boops</i> (Teleostei)

Abstract

Cyclocotyla bellones Otto, 1823 (Diclidophoridae) is a monogenean characterised by an exceptional way of life. It is a hyperparasite that attaches itself to the dorsal face of isopods, themselves parasites in the buccal cavity of fishes. In this study, Cy. bellones was found on Ceratothoa parallela (Otto, 1828), a cymothoid isopod parasite of the sparid fish Boops boops off Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea. We provide, for the first time, molecular barcoding information of a hyperparasitic monogenean, the parasitic crustacean host, and the fish host, with COI sequences.

Topics & Concepts