Impact of a mouth parasite in a marine fish differs between geographical areas

Early evidence of a shift in juvenile fish communities in response to conditions in nursery areas

A multivariate analysis of juvenile fish community data, sampled at two nursery sites at an interval of 17 years (2000-early, and 2017-late), was conducted to elucidate the trends of change in littoral juvenile fish communities along the eastern Adriatic coast. Fishing, trophic and taxonomic composition to the community data were analysed for possible causality. The ichthyofaunal composition differed significantly for Site, Period and all interactions. According to the mMDS ordination plot, four groups of communities were defined, with clear cyclicity. No patterns were found in species composition between sites in the early period, while the observed community changes were governed by the same pattern at both sites in the late period. The species that contributed most to the observed changes were non-commercial, small, benthic resident fishes, such as gobiids and blennids, or those associated with canopy alga for shelter and feeding. The analysis correctly allocated samples based on community information to Sites and Periods. The data obtained provided an invaluable opportunity to test for the generality of potential patterns of change in littoral fish communities, suggesting that significantly modified juvenile fish communities may be the result of constant human embankment and marine infrastructure construction along the coast in recent decades, rather than climate change or fishing pressure, as generally considered.

Review of the global distribution and hosts of the economically important fish parasitic isopod genus Ceratothoa (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), including the description of Ceratothoa springbok n. sp. from South Africa

Fish parasites from the isopod family Cymothoidae have, in recent years, received increased global attention due to both their ecological and economic importance. This is particularly true for the buccal inhabiting genus Ceratothoa Dana, 1852, whose members have been implicated in negatively impacting the health of both farmed and wild-caught fishes. As research on this group increases, so does our understanding of their host specificity and distribution. The aims of this paper were thus to review the current distribution and host records of Ceratothoa and describe a new species, Ceratothoa springbok n. sp. from South Africa. Including the new species described here, there are currently 25 accepted Ceratothoa spp. known from eight of the 12 marine biogeographical realms of the world. The majority of Cymothoidae species are known to occur in the tropical realms, whereas our analyses show that the greatest diversity of Ceratothoa spp. can be found in temperate realms. These results indicate the possibility that Ceratothoa is more diverse in temperate regions. This review also highlights the low diversity of Ceratothoa from the oceans around both North and South America. Current records indicate that species of Ceratothoa parasitise 108 fish species in 76 genera and 41 families. Eleven Ceratothoa spp. demonstrate host specificity up to host genus or family level. Amongst the hosts, members of the Sparidae are parasitised by 13 species of Ceratothoa, making it the host family with the highest diversity of parasites from this genus. The new species, C. springbok n. sp., also parasitises a sparid and was found in the buccal cavity of the carpenter seabream, Argyrozona argyrozona. This new species, the largest of all recorded Ceratothoa (up to 65 mm) and amongst the largest of all Cymothoidae, is characterised by its truncate and ventrally folded frontal margin, pereonite 1 with medial indentations, the wide anterolateral margins of pereonite 1 with an inwardly produced point, and a well-developed carina on the basis of pereopod 7. A key to the southern African Ceratothoa is provided.

Life Cycle and Life History Strategies of Parasitic Crustacea

Different parasitic life strategies are described including four new life cycles: complex rebrooding, micro-male, mesoparasite and prey-predator transfer. Four new life cycle behaviours are named: nursery hiding, mid-moult stage, positive precursor (intraspecific antagonism) and negative precursor (ambush strategy). Further strategies discussed are opossum attack, double parasitism (doubling of the normal reproductive set), duplex arrangement (separated male-female pairs), simple rebrooding, and describing how displaced parasites and superinfections may partly elucidate life cycles. Proportional stunting masks life history effects of parasitism; cuckoo copepods are true parasites and not just associates; burrowing barnacles (acrothoracicans) are not parasites. Further findings based on life cycle information: branchiurans and pentastomes are possibly not related; firefly seed shrimp are not parasites; copepod pre-adult life cycle stages are common in the western pacific but rare in Caribbean; harpacticoids on vertebrates are not parasites; cuckoo copepods are true parasites; explained the importance of pennellid intermediate hosts. Crustacean parasite life cycles are largely unknown (1% of species). Most crustacean life cycles represent minor modifications from the ancestral free-living mode. Crustacean parasites have less complex and less modified life cycles than other major parasite groups. This limits their exploitation of, and effectiveness, in parasitism. However, these life cycles will be an advantage in Global Change. Most metazoan parasites will be eliminated while crustaceans (and nematodes) will inherit the new world of parasites.

Understanding growth relationships of African cymothoid fish parasitic isopods using specimens from museum and field collections

Cymothoid isopods are a diverse group of ectoparasites of fish species, and are particularly conspicuous as they are large and attach to the body surface, mouth, and gill chamber of fish hosts. These parasites transition from juvenile to male to female, and how their size changes with ontogeny and correlates with host size is not well understood. To better understand these relationships, data from field and museum collected samples of South Africa were combined to test for the associations between host and parasite length for three mouth and one gill chamber-infesting genera (Ceratothoa, Cinusa, Cymothoa, and Mothocya respectively). Generally, the number of parasites collected from 90 h of museum surveying was similar to that of seven, one-week long field collections. For two of the three mouth-infesting parasites, parasite and host size were significantly and positively correlated for males and females, but not juveniles. For gill chamber-infesting parasites, female and male parasite sizes were weakly and not significantly correlated with host size. These results provide the first morphometric data and growth relationship data for African cymothoid species and their fish hosts, and demonstrate the value and efficiency of using museum collections in ecological research.

Spatial variation in the parasitic isopod load of the Japanese halfbeak in western Japan

Cymothoid isopods (family Cymothoidae) are commonly found parasitizing diverse fishes, including commercial species. However, the effects of these parasites on host body condition are still poorly known. Here we investigated the spatial variation of the effects of parasite infection on host body condition, using the parasitic load of the cymothoid Mothocya parvostis on the Japanese halfbeak Hyporhamphus sajori at 4 sampling sites in western Japan. M. parvostis prevalence at each site (41.6-74.4%) was higher than that known for other fish host-cymothoid systems (usually less than 30%). The number of isopods in infected hosts, the reproductive status of female isopods (i.e. ovigerous/non-ovigerous), and the body size of female and male isopods relative to the size of their hosts were not significantly different among sites. However, at the site where human activity was most intense, M. parvostis infection had a significantly negative effect on host body condition. These results suggest that the effect of cymothoid infection on host body condition might be benign under natural conditions but becomes detrimental in habitats that are unsuitable for the host, such as highly human-impacted areas.

A review of molecular approaches for investigating patterns of coevolution in marine host-parasite relationships

Parasites and their relationships with hosts play a crucial role in the evolutionary pathways of every living organism. One method of investigating host-parasite systems is using a molecular approach. This is particularly important as analyses based solely on morphology or laboratory studies of parasites and their hosts do not take into account historical evolutionary interactions that can shape the distribution, abundance and population structure of parasites and their hosts. However, the predominant host-parasite coevolution literature has focused on terrestrial hosts and their parasites, and there still is a lack of studies in marine environments. Given that marine systems are generally more open than terrestrial ones, they provide fascinating opportunities for large-scale (as well as small-scale) geographic studies. Further, patterns and processes of genetic structuring and systematics are becoming more available across many different taxa (but especially fishes) in many marine systems, providing an excellent basis for examining whether parasites follow host population/species structure. In this chapter, we first highlight the factors and processes that challenge our ability to interpret evolutionary patterns of coevolution of hosts and their parasites in marine systems at different spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales. We then review the use of the most commonly utilized genetic markers in studying marine host-parasite systems. We give an overview and discuss which molecular methodologies resolve evolutionary relationships best and also discuss the applicability of new approaches, such as next-generation sequencing and studies utilizing functional markers to gain insights into more contemporary processes shaping host-parasite relationships.

How have fisheries affected parasite communities?

To understand how fisheries affect parasites, we conducted a meta-analysis of studies that contrasted parasite assemblages in fished and unfished areas. Parasite diversity was lower in hosts from fished areas. Larger hosts had a greater abundance of parasites, suggesting that fishing might reduce the abundance of parasites by selectively removing the largest, most heavily parasitized individuals. After controlling for size, the effect of fishing on parasite abundance varied according to whether the host was fished and the parasite's life cycle. Parasites of unfished hosts were more likely to increase in abundance in response to fishing than were parasites of fished hosts, possibly due to compensatory increases in the abundance of unfished hosts. While complex life cycle parasites tended to decline in abundance in response to fishing, directly transmitted parasites tended to increase. Among complex life cycle parasites, those with fished hosts tended to decline in abundance in response to fishing, while those with unfished hosts tended to increase. However, among directly transmitted parasites, responses did not differ between parasites with and without fished hosts. This work suggests that parasite assemblages are likely to change substantially in composition in increasingly fished ecosystems, and that parasite life history and fishing status of the host are important in predicting the response of individual parasite species or groups to fishing.