[1] Other characteristics of Dactylogyrus species include the appearance of four eye-spots, 14 marginal hooks (7 pairs), one to two connective bars and two needle-like structures and spindle-shaped dactylogyrid-type seminal vesicles.

The hermaphroditic adults are oviparous and produce eggs into the water which hatch prior to attaching to the gills of a fish host and developing into an oncomiracidium.

[13] Cyprinid fish that are infected by Dactylogyrus species may have symptoms that include inflamed gills, excessive mucous secretions and accelerated respiration.

Heavily infected fish are also anorexic and can be found gasping for air and exhibiting abnormal behavior such as jumping out of the water.

For these reasons, they have been an important model for ecology and evolution of host-parasite associations of monogeneans, and of parasites in general; dozens of scientific publications have been published on these subjects.

These studies on species of Dactylogyrus have also shown that host-specific congeneric monogeneans could reveal historical intercontinental and intracontinental contacts between freshwater fish.

[16] The importance of the role of genetic coadaptation, which limits the presence of host-specific monogeneans in hybrid fish, was also studied on species of Dactylogyrus.