Apparent kleptoparasitism in fish—parasitic gnathiid isopods

Shodipo, Mary O.; Gomez, Rick Dane C; Welicky, Rachel L.; Sikkel, Paul C.

doi:10.1007/s00436-018-6152-8

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Moreover, Paula et al (2020) showed that gnathiids are resilient to other environmental stressors, such as ocean acidification. The fish-parasitic stages of tropical gnathiids can survive over a week without feeding (Sikkel and Welicky 2019), and some can feed on soft-bodied invertebrates (Nicholson et al 2019) and even ''steal'' blood meals from each other (Shodipo et al 2019). Thus, they appear to be able to withstand and even benefit, at least over the shortterm, from the impacts of the major disturbances that appear to be increasing in association with climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of corals on the abundance of a fish ectoparasite in the Great Barrier Reef

et al. 2021

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Gnathiid isopods, common fish ectoparasites, can affect fish physiology, behaviour and survival. Gnathiid juveniles emerge from the benthos to feed on fish blood. In the Caribbean, gnathiids are positively associated with dead coral and negatively associated with live coral, due to coral predation on gnathiids. However, such interactions were unstudied in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Due to recent extreme weather events (two cyclones and one mass warm-water coral bleaching event, 2014-2016), it is now urgent to understand the role of corals on the abundance of these ectoparasites. Here, to understand parasite-coral dynamics at the micro-habitat level, we examined substrate associations of gnathiid isopods on Lizard Island (GBR) using demersal plankton emergence traps. Additionally, we determined whether two abundant hard coral species, Goniopora lobata and Pocillopora damicornis, predate on gnathiids in a laboratory experiment using containers with gnathiids and fragments from each coral species or dead coral as controls. The abundance of gnathiids over natural substrates was higher for dead compared to live hard coral and sand, but not live soft coral. Moreover, we found that free-swimming gnathiids decreased in containers with live coral compared to dead coral controls. This was attributed to predation as we also directly observed a coral ingesting a gnathiid. Our results suggest that dead coral is a suitable microhabitat for gnathiids, but that live coral is not since live corals can predate on gnathiids. We propose that following extreme events, such as cyclones and heat waves, gnathiids might benefit from more dead coral substrate and a decrease in predation by the reduction in coral cover on the reef. We advocate that an increase in the frequency of extreme events may have cascading effects for the fish population through changes in the population of benthos-dependent ectoparasites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of corals on the abundance of a fish ectoparasite in the Great Barrier Reef

et al. 2021

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“…results presented here are thus predominantly from third stage juveniles. Similarly, we have previously shown that G. marleyi can successfully feed on soft-bodied invertebrates (Shodipo et al 2019;Nicholson et al 2019), and although sequencing results for two blood meals suggest polychaete worm origin, their use was likely an artifact of co-occurrence with unfed gnathiids in light traps. Thus, invertebrate homologies were excluded from our statistical analyses.…”

Section: Dna Sequencing and Host Identi Cationmentioning

confidence: 64%

Blood meal identification reveals extremely broad host range and host-bias in a temporary ectoparasite of coral reef fishes

Hendrick,

Nicholson,

Pagan

et al. 2023

Oecologia

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Appreciation for the role of cryptofauna in ecological systems has increased dramatically over the past decade. The impacts blood-feeding arthropods, such as ticks and mosquitos, have on terrestrial communities are the subject of hundreds of papers annually. However, blood-feeding arthropods have been largely ignored in marine environments. Gnathiid isopods, often referred to as "ticks of the sea", are temporary external parasites of shes. They are found in all marine environments and have many consequential impacts on host tness. Because they are highly mobile and only associated with their hosts while obtaining a blood meal, their broader trophic connections are di cult to discern. Conventional methods rely heavily on detecting gnathiids on wild-caught shes. However, this approach typically yields few gnathiids and does not account for hosts that avoid capture. To overcome this limitation, we sequenced blood meals of free-living gnathiids collected in light traps to assess the host range and community-dependent exploitation of Caribbean gnathiid isopods. Using sh-speci c COI (cox1) primers, sequencing individual blood meals from 1,060 gnathiids resulted in the identi cation of 70 host sh species from 27 families. Comparisons of sh assemblages to blood meal identi cation frequencies at four collection sites indicated that shes within the families Haemulidae (grunts) and Lutjanidae (snappers) were exploited more frequently than expected based on their biomass, and Labrid parrot shes were exploited less frequently than expected. The broad host range along with the biased exploitation of diel-migratory species has important implications for the role gnathiid isopods play in Caribbean coral reef communities.

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“…The potentially impaired physiological and swimming ability of the parasite, combined with direct effects on mortality and host availability, could result in a decline in parasite populations. However, the ability of some gnathiids to feed on invertebrate hosts [149,150], combined with weakened immune response for the smaller, less mobile, fish species could leave fish more susceptible to ectoparasites, and thus, compensate for the loss of larger hosts. Indeed, during the 2016-2017 mass bleaching event on the GBR, there was a significant decrease in the numbers of larger, more mobile host fishes in shallow areas, with only smaller, site-attached species remaining [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Acute Seawater Temperature Increase on the Survival of a Fish Ectoparasite

Shodipo

Duong

Graba‐Landry

et al. 2020

Oceans

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Extreme warming events that contribute to mass coral bleaching are occurring with increasing regularity, raising questions about their effect on coral reef ecological interactions. However, the effects of such events on parasite-host interactions are largely ignored. Gnathiid isopods are common, highly mobile, external parasites of coral reef fishes, that feed on blood during the juvenile stage. They have direct and indirect impacts on their fish hosts, and are the major food source for cleaner fishes. However, how these interactions might be impacted by increased temperatures is unknown. We examined the effects of acute temperature increases, similar to those observed during mass bleaching events, on survivorship of gnathiid isopod juveniles. Laboratory experiments were conducted using individuals from one species (Gnathia aureamaculosa) from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and multiple unknown species from the central Philippines. Fed and unfed GBR gnathiids were held in temperature treatments of 29 °C to 32 °C and fed Philippines gnathiids were held at 28 °C to 36 °C. Gnathiids from both locations showed rapid mortality when held in temperatures 2 °C to 3 °C above average seasonal sea surface temperature (32 °C). This suggests environmental changes in temperature can influence gnathiid survival, which could have significant ecological consequences for host-parasite-cleaner fish interactions during increased temperature events.

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Apparent kleptoparasitism in fish—parasitic gnathiid isopods

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

The role of corals on the abundance of a fish ectoparasite in the Great Barrier Reef

The role of corals on the abundance of a fish ectoparasite in the Great Barrier Reef

Blood meal identification reveals extremely broad host range and host-bias in a temporary ectoparasite of coral reef fishes

Effect of Acute Seawater Temperature Increase on the Survival of a Fish Ectoparasite

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