Cichlidogyrus

Cichlidogyrus is a genus of Monopisthocotylean Monogeneans, belonging in the family Dactylogyridae (or Ancyrocephalidae), according to the classification used. All its species are parasites on the gills of fish, namely African Cichlidae, Nandidae and Cyprinodontidae.

Species of Cichlidogyrus are parasitic in many clichlid species in the Lake Tanganyika; a recent study (2016) has shown that species which are parasite on deep-water fish show reduced parasite-host specificity in comparison to species from littoral waters, probably an adaptation to low host availability.

The type-species of the genus is Cichlidogyrus arthracanthus Paperna, 1960, by original designation.

According to Antoine Pariselle and Louis Euzet, 71 species of Cichlidogyrus were known in 2009 - new species have been described since. Nikol Kmentová, Milan Gelnar, Stephan Koblmüller and Maarten P.M. Vanhove estimated that the number of species was more than 100 in 2016.