Heteracanthocephalidae
Heteracanthocephalidae is a family of parasitic worms from the order Echinorhynchida.
Species
Heteracanthocephalidae contains two subfamilies and the following species:Aspersentinae Golvan, 1960
Aspersentis Van Cleave, 1929- Aspersentis austrinus Van Cleave, 1929
- Aspersentis dissosthychi
- Aspersentis johni
- Aspersentis megarhynchus
- Aspersentis minor Edmonds and Smales, 1992
- Aspersentis peltorhamphi
- 'Aspersentis zanclorhynchi'''''
Heteracanthocephalinae Petrochenko, 1956
Bullockrhynchus Chandra, Hanumantha-Rao & Shyamasundari, 1985- Bullockrhynchus indicus Chandra, Hanumantha-Rao & Shyamasundari, 1985
- 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, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNAs, plus two non-coding regions.A phylogenetic analysis suggested close affinity between the Heteracanthocephalidae and the Echinorhynchidae within the order Echinorhynchida.