Microcotyle furcata

{{short description|Species of worms}} {{Speciesbox | image = | image_caption = | genus = Microcotyle | species = furcata | authority = Linton, 1940 | synonyms = ''Microcotyle hiatulae'' Goto, 1899 <ref name="Goto1899"/> ''Microcotyle (Microcotyle) furcata'' (Linton, 1940) Unnithan, 1971<ref name="Unnithan1971"/> }}

'''''Microcotyle furcata''''' is a species of monogenean that is parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.<ref name="Linton1940">{{cite journal|last1=Linton|first1=E.|title=Trematodes from fishes mainly from the Woods Hole region, Massachusetts|journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum|volume=88|issue=3078|year=1940|pages=1–172|issn=0096-3801|doi=10.5479/si.00963801.88-3078.1|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7719840#page/13/mode/1up}} {{open access}}</ref>

==Systematics== ''Microcotyle furcata'' was described by Linton in 1940 from the gills of the labrid ''Hiatula Onitis'' collected near Woods Hole, off Massachusetts.<ref name="Linton1940"/> ''Microcotyle hiatulae'' was described 40 years earlier by Goto in 1899 from the gills of the labrid ''Hiatula Onitis'' collected near Newport, off Rhode Island.<ref name="Goto1899">Goto, S. (1899). Notes on some exotic species of ectoparasitic trematodes (Vol. 12). Imperial University of Tokyo. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31156.pdf {{open acess}}</ref> Forty years later, Linton (1940) described ''M. furcata'' from the gills the same host collected near Woods Hole, off Massachusetts.<ref name="Linton1940"/> As Linton did not mention ''M. hiatulae'' description of ''M. furcata'', Thoney & Munroe suggested that Linton was unaware of Goto's earlier description of ''M. hiatulae''.<ref name="Thoney&Munroe1987">Thoney, D. A., & Munroe, T. A. (1987). ''Microcotyle hiatulae'' Goto, 1900 (Monogenea), a senior synonym of ''M. furcata'' Linton, 1940, with a redescription and comments on postlarval development. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 54(1), 91-95.</ref> Thoney & Munroe examined ''Microcotyle'' specimens from ''T. onitis'' off Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Chesapeake Bay and indicated that all specimens collected from all three locations were indistinguishable from ''M. hiatulae''. Comparison of meristic and morphometric of the holotype of ''M. furcata'' also reveals that this specimen are ''M. hiatulae'' indicating that ''Microcotyle furcata'' should be considered a junior subjective synonym of ''M. hiatulae'''.<ref name="Thoney&Munroe1987"/> Thoney & Munroe provided a redescription and illustrations of ''Microcotyle hiatulae'' to complete the original description lacking data on intraspecific variation and some important taxonomic characters, and also described the postlarval development.<ref name="Thoney&Munroe1987"/> Thoney and Munroe's comparison of ''M. hiatulae'' with 18 other species of ''Microcotyle'' described previously from 15 host species living sympatrically with ''Hiatula onitis'' along the Atlantic coast of the United States by examination of published descriptions showed that many of the species were morphologically similar. Thoney and Munroe also noted that it was extremely difficult to identify an individual to species level in absence of host species identification.<ref name="Thoney&Munroe1987"/>

Unnithan erected the subgenus ''Microcotyle'' in which he placed ''Microcotyle furcata'' as ''Microcotyle (Microcotyle) furcata''.<ref name="Unnithan1971">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.</ref> However, this species was returned to the genus ''Microcotyle'' by Mamaev.<ref name="Mamaev1986">Mamaev, Y. L. (1986). The taxonomical composition of the family Microcotylidae Taschenberg, 1879 (Monogenea). Folia Parasitologica, 33, 199-206. [https://folia.paru.cas.cz/pdfs/fol/1986/03/02.pdf PDF] {{open access}}</ref>

==Description== ''Microcotyle furcata'' has the general morphology of all species of ''Microcotyle'', with a symmetrical lanceolate body, comprising an anterior part which contains most organs and a posterior part called the haptor. The haptor is symmetrical, approximately half the length of the body proper and bears 40-48 clamps, arranged as two rows, one on each side. The clamps of the haptor attach the animal to the gill of the fish. There are also two buccal suckers at the anterior extremity. The digestive organs include an anterior, terminal mouth, a pharynx nearly circular in outline, a short oesophagus and a posterior intestine with two lateral branches hidden in large part by the vitellaria and do not extend in the haptor. Each adult contains male and female reproductive organs. The reproductive organs include an anterior spacious genital atrium, armed with numerous somewhat conical spines, a medio-dorsal vagina, a single ovary and 14-24 testes that extend from the posterior edge of the ovary to a point a little in front of the posterior end of the vitellaria.<ref name="Linton1940"/>

==Hosts and localities== The type-host is ''Tautoga onitis'' (Labridae). The type-locality is off Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States.<ref name="Linton1940"/>

{{Gallery |Tautoga onitis (line art).jpg|''Tautoga onitis'' is the type host of ''Microcotyle furcata'' }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Microcotyle Category:Animals described in 1940 Category:Parasites of fish Category:Invertebrates of the United States Category:Fauna without expected TNC conservation status