WoRMS taxon details
Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863
1821189 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1821189)
accepted
Species
Microcotyle donavani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 · unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect original spelling
Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 · unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling
marine
Not documented
Taxonomic remark Microcotyle donovani, type species of Microcotyle was first described by Van Beneden and Hesse (1863) from the gills of the...
Taxonomic remark Microcotyle donovani, type species of Microcotyle was first described by Van Beneden and Hesse (1863) from the gills of the L. bergylta (referred to as L. donavani and “Vielle verte”), as M. donavani, in a description focused solely on the external morphology, and listed under the former name by subsequent authors (Parona and Perugia 1890; Scott 1905; MacCallum and MacCallum 1913). Sproston (1946) considered that the senior synonym of the host was misspelled and thus the monogenean species name was corrected to M. “donavini,” and the latter species was defined as a type species of the genus. However, only the spelling “donovani” is given for Labrus as a junior synonym of L. bergylta, and no other spellings for Valenciennes’ species as synonyms (Fricke and Eschmeyer, 2025), as also spelled in the original reference of Cuvier and Valenciennes (1839), which is understandable as the author’s name is Donovan, E. (Edward) (see for example the spelling of the writer’s name in Donovan 1802). Hence, the original spelling of the monogenean’s specific name as M. “donavani” is indeed a misspelling of the host’s name, but Sproson’s emendation (L. donavini) appears to be a secondary misspelling rather than a justified correction. Given that the correct spelling of the host’s synonym is L. donovani (see Cuvier and Valenciennes 1839), we herein corrected M. donavani to M. donovani as the species was named after L. donovani, and the original spelling was in error (ICZN Article 32.5.1). The authorship and date of the original description remain unchanged. [details]
WoRMS (2026). Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863. Accessed at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1821189 on 2026-07-08
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Nomenclature
basis of record
Bouguerche, C. (2025). An unexpected gills roommate from museum collections: description of a new species of Microcotyle Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 (Mazocraeidea: Microcotylidae) from the ballan wrasse Labrus bergylta Ascanius (Teleostei, Labridae) off Sweden with novel data for Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863. <em>Marine Biodiversity.</em> 55(3)., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-025-01511-6 [details] Available for editors 
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[request]Taxonomy
redescription
Bouguerche, C. (2025). An unexpected gills roommate from museum collections: description of a new species of Microcotyle Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 (Mazocraeidea: Microcotylidae) from the ballan wrasse Labrus bergylta Ascanius (Teleostei, Labridae) off Sweden with novel data for Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863. <em>Marine Biodiversity.</em> 55(3)., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-025-01511-6 [details] Available for editors [request]
[request]Other
biology source
Bouguerche, C.; Boström, S. (2025). Museisamlingars stora betydelse för studier av besvärliga fiskparasiter. <em>Fauna & Flora.</em> 120(3): 24–34.
note: Life-cycle [details]
note: Life-cycle [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Taxonomic remark Microcotyle donovani, type species of Microcotyle was first described by Van Beneden and Hesse (1863) from the gills of the L. bergylta (referred to as L. donavani and “Vielle verte”), as M. donavani, in a description focused solely on the external morphology, and listed under the former name by subsequent authors (Parona and Perugia 1890; Scott 1905; MacCallum and MacCallum 1913). Sproston (1946) considered that the senior synonym of the host was misspelled and thus the monogenean species name was corrected to M. “donavini,” and the latter species was defined as a type species of the genus. However, only the spelling “donovani” is given for Labrus as a junior synonym of L. bergylta, and no other spellings for Valenciennes’ species as synonyms (Fricke and Eschmeyer, 2025), as also spelled in the original reference of Cuvier and Valenciennes (1839), which is understandable as the author’s name is Donovan, E. (Edward) (see for example the spelling of the writer’s name in Donovan 1802). Hence, the original spelling of the monogenean’s specific name as M. “donavani” is indeed a misspelling of the host’s name, but Sproson’s emendation (L. donavini) appears to be a secondary misspelling rather than a justified correction. Given that the correct spelling of the host’s synonym is L. donovani (see Cuvier and Valenciennes 1839), we herein corrected M. donavani to M. donovani as the species was named after L. donovani, and the original spelling was in error (ICZN Article 32.5.1). The authorship and date of the original description remain unchanged. [details]
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (5 publications) (from synonym Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI) (from synonym Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863)
To PESI (from synonym Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863)
To Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI) (from synonym Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863)
To PESI (from synonym Microcotyle donavini Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863)
Unreviewed
Image from synonym
