Living Together: The Parasites of Marine Mammals

Gastrointestinal helminths of Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus from the Western Mediterranean

“…of species per host ± SD: 1.12 ± 1.09), as it might be expected for cetaceans (see Aznar et al 2001). In addition, parasite prevalences were low (< 50%), and intensities were very low, except for S. pleuronectis.…”

Host correlates of diversification in avian lice

“…They classified those hosts as 'aquatic' that dive beneath the water surface to obtain food and concluded that these clades tend to harbour significantly reduced louse faunae. A similar phenomenon is also known in, for example, parasite fauna of pinnipeds; seals seem to host a reduced subset of the parasites characteristic to terrestrial carnivores (Aznar et al, 2001). Within their unsaturated parasite communities, seals also harbour lice that are active only during the hosts' short terrestrial phase of life (Leonardi et al, 2012).…”

Parasites of Forage Fishes in the Vicinity of Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias Jubatus) Habitat in Alaska

“…Because the partial necropsies only give a sample of the types of parasites encountered rather than a total count, we report only parasite prevalence (percentage of fish infected with a given parasite). Prevalence data has the advantage of being potentially stable over time for some host-parasite combinations (Azar et al, 2001). Some fresh fish were examined to obtain parasite specimens for taxonomic purposes.…”

“…Larval helminths may, once transmitted from their fish intermediate hosts, grow considerably as they mature in their final mammalian or avian hosts. They can also, in concert with factors such as predation, food limitation, or climate change, act as a compensatory or additive stress on their final hosts (Azar et al, 2001).…”