Trematoda |
Plagiorchiida |
Hemiuridae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Pelagic. Tropical
Western Central Atlantic: Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Curacao and USA.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 0.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 359)
A microscopic to minuscule; elongate fluke with the body either bulging around the ventral sucker or with the ventral sucker on a projection off the body. Oral and ventral suckers: Moderately (approximately I ventral sucker diameter) separated. Short tail: Usually withdrawn into the body. Oral sucker: More than 1/3 and less than 1/2 the diameter of the ventral sucker. Vitellaria: reduced to 2 compact; lobate masses just posterior of the ovary; and the testes are one in front of the other with the anterior one partially underneath the ventral sucker (Ref. 359). Overstreet found the tail may be extended or not, with the ceca extending into the tail or not; the testes may be in contact or separated; the sizes of the oral sucker and ventral sucker and ratios of these sizes varied; sizes of the eggs varied; the small size of this worm, pre-acetabular pit, weakly-developed cirrus sac and low number of post ovarian coils of the uterus, were consistent characters that allowed this worm to be identified (Ref. 411).
Length : 0.05 to 0.12 cm. Associations: The fluke, Lecithochirium texanum, occurred with this worm in a little tunny examined in the Dry Tortugas. Host Specificity: This worm appears to have little host preference (Ref. 359).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Members of the class Trematoda are parasitic, thus requires a host to survive. Life cycle: Eggs are passed on to the feces of the hosts. Embryos hatch into miracidia and penetrate the tissues of snails where they further undergo three stages: sporocysts
Williams, E.H. Jr. and L. Bunkley-Williams 1996 Parasites of offshore big game fishes of Puerto Rico and the Western Atlantic. Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environment Resources, San Juan, PR, and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, PR, 382 p. 320 drawings. (Ref. 359)
IUCN Red List Status
(Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
More information
Trophic EcologyFood items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Predators
Population dynamicsGrowth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Abundance
Life cycleReproductionMaturityFecunditySpawningEggsEgg developmentLarvae PhysiologyOxygen consumption
Human RelatedStamps, coins, misc.
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Fishing Vulnerability
Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category
Unknown.
