Ommatokoita
Genus of crustaceans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ommatokoita is a monotypic genus of copepods, the sole species being Ommatokoita elongata.[1] However, a specimen has been found on the skin of the great lanternshark (Etmopterus princeps), which has been assigned to the genus but not the species.[2]
| Ommatokoita | |
|---|---|
| |
| On a Greenland shark | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Copepoda |
| Order: | Siphonostomatoida |
| Family: | Lernaeopodidae |
| Genus: | Ommatokoita Leigh-Sharpe, 1926 |
| Species: | O. elongata |
| Binomial name | |
| Ommatokoita elongata (Grant, 1827) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Ommatokoita elongata is a 30 mm (1.2 in) long pinkish-white parasitic copepod, frequently found permanently attached to the corneas of the Greenland shark and Pacific sleeper shark.[3][4][5] The parasites cause severe visual impairment, but it is thought that the sharks do not rely on keen eyesight for their survival.[4] It was speculated that the copepod may be bioluminescent and thus form a mutualistic relationship with the shark by attracting prey, but this hypothesis has not been verified.[6]