Ommatokoita

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
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Copepoda
Order:	Siphonostomatoida
Family:	Lernaeopodidae
Genus:	Ommatokoita Leigh-Sharpe, 1926
Species:	O. elongata
Binomial name
Ommatokoita elongata (Grant, 1827)
Synonyms[1]
Lernaea elongata Grant, 1827 Ommatokoita superba Leigh-Sharpe, 1926

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]

References

1. Walter TC, Boxshall G (eds.). "Ommatokoita Leigh-Sharpe, 1926". World of Copepods Database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
2. Hogans, W. E.; Brattey, John (1986). "Ommatokoita sp. (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae) parasitic on a demersal shark, Etmopterus princeps, from the northwest Atlantic Ocean". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 64 (4): 833–835. Bibcode:1986CaJZ...64..833H. doi:10.1139/z86-124. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
3. Borucinska, J. D.; Benz, G. W.; Whiteley, H. E. (1998). "Ocular lesions associated with attachment of the parasitic copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Grant) to corneas of Greenland sharks, Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider)". Journal of Fish Diseases. 21 (6): 415–22. Bibcode:1998JFDis..21..415B. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2761.1998.00122.x.
4. Benz, George W.; Borucinska, Joanna D.; Lowry, Lloyd F.; Whiteley, Herbert E. (2002). "Ocular lesions associated with attachment of the copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Lernaeopodidae: Siphonostomatoida) to corneas of Pacific sleeper sharks Somniosus pacificus captured off Alaska in Prince William Sound". The Journal of Parasitology. 88 (3): 474–81. doi:10.1645/0022-3395(2002)088[0474:OLAWAO]2.0.CO;2. PMID 12099414.
5. Martin, R. Aidan (October 4, 1998). "Greenland sharks and parasites".
6. Berland, Bjørn (1961). "Copepod Ommatokoita elongata (Grant) in the eyes of the Greenland shark—a possible cause of mutual dependence". Nature. 191 (4790): 829–30. Bibcode:1961Natur.191..829B. doi:10.1038/191829a0. S2CID 4262630.