Asterocheres lilljeborgi | |
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Genus: | Asterocheres
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Species: | A. lilljeborgi
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Binomial name | |
Asterocheres lilljeborgi Boeck, 1859[1]
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Asterocheres lilljeborgi is a species of copepod in the family Asterocheridae. It is found in the British Isles and Scandinavia where it is a semi-parasite of starfish. First described as Asterocheres lilljeborgi in 1859 by the Norwegian marine biologist Jonas Axel Boeck,[1] it is the type species of the genus.[2]
The species is found in west and south Norway, south-western Sweden, the Skagerrak, the North Sea, around the coasts of England and northern France as well as the Davis Strait, the Aleutian Islands and Alaska.[1]
A. lilljeborgi is associated with starfish, such as the bloody Henry starfish (Henricia oculata) or the blood star (Henricia sanguinolenta).[3] Some 90% of the starfish examined were parasitised.[4]