Revised 13 Sept. 2022
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Mordacia Gray 1851 etymology not explained, likely derived from mordax (L.), biting, referring to specific name of M. mordax

Mordacia lapicida (Gray 1851) lapis (L.), stone; –cida (L.), cut or kill, i.e., stonecutter, allusion not evident but possibly referring to its parasitic behavior

Mordacia mordax (Richardson 1846) Latin for biting, perhaps referring to its parasitic behavior and/or serrated, cutting teeth

Mordacia praecox Potter 1968 Latin for premature, referring to its “precocious nature of sexual development,” wherein newly metamorphosed ammocoetes become sexually mature without first reaching their adult parasitic phase