Heteracanthocephalidae is a family of parasitic worms from the order Echinorhynchida.
Species Heteracanthocephalidae contains two subfamilies (Aspersentinae and Heteracanthocephalinae) and the following species: Aspersentinae Golvan, 1960 Aspersentis Van Cleave, 1929 Aspersentis austrinus Van Cleave, 1929 Aspersentis dissosthychi (Parukhin, 1989) Aspersentis johni (Bayliss, 1929)
A. johni was found parasitizing Patagonotothen longipes and Champsocephalus esox in the eastern mouth of the Beagle Channel.Laskowski, Z., & Zdzitowiecki, K. (2009). Occurrence of acanthocephalans in notothenioid fishes in the Beagle Channel (Magellanic sub-region, sub-Antarctic). Polish Polar Research, 30(2), 179-186. ulr=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zdzislaw_Laskowski/publication/264196052_Occurrence_of_acanthocephalans_in_notothenioid_fishes_in_the_Beagle_Channel_Magellanic_sub-region_sub-Antarctic/links/53d18b180cf2a7fbb2e8782c/Occurrence-of-acanthocephalans-in-notothenioid-fishes-in-the-Beagle-Channel-Magellanic-sub-region-sub-Antarctic.pdf
Aspersentis megarhynchus (von Linstow, 1892) Aspersentis minor Edmonds and Smales, 1992 Aspersentis peltorhamphi (Baylis, 1944) Aspersentis zanclorhynchi (Johnston and Best, 1937) Heteracanthocephalinae Petrochenko, 1956 Bullockrhynchus Chandra, Hanumantha-Rao & Shyamasundari, 1985 Bullockrhynchus indicus Chandra, Hanumantha-Rao & Shyamasundari, 1985 Sachalinorhynchus Krotov and Petrochenko, 1956 Sachalinorhynchus skrjabini Krotov and Petrochenko, 1956
Molecular characterization In 2024, the complete mitochondrial genome of Aspersentis megarhynchus was sequenced and annotated for the first time. This was the first mitogenomic data for the genus Aspersentis and also for the family Heteracanthocephalidae. The mitogenome of A. megarhynchus has 14,661 bp and includes 36 genes, containing 12 protein-coding genes (missing atp8), 22 tRNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNAs (rrnS and rrnL), plus two non-coding regions.
A phylogenetic analysis suggested close affinity between the Heteracanthocephalidae and the Echinorhynchidae within the order Echinorhynchida.
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