Ergasilus | |
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Ergasilus sp. females with one pair of eggs each on gills of northern pike | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Copepoda |
Order: | Cyclopoida |
Family: | Ergasilidae |
Genus: | Ergasilus Nordmann, 1832 [1] |
Species | |
See text |
Ergasilus is a genus of copepod crustaceans occurring in both the ocean and fresh water, often called gill lice. The females are parasitic upon the gills of fishes. Being copepods, gill lice have a single median eye on their head. The second antennae are modified into prehensile pincers. Male gill lice are free-living. [2]
Species include: [1]