Lobster (<i>Homarus americanus</i>), a new host for marine horsehair worms (<i>Nectonema agile</i>, Nematomorpha)

Nectonema, the only horsehair worm (Nematomorpha) genus found in marine environments, was previously known to be parasitic only in decapod crustaceans. We report Nectonema sp.as the first record of a marine nematomorph parasitic in isopod crustaceans. This is also the third record of marine nematomorphs from the North Pacific. Six infected isopods (Natatolana japonensis) collected from 1425 m depth in the Sea of Japan each contained one to seven (mean 2.33) nematomorphs in the body cavity in the pereon. There was no correlation between the host body length and number of parasites. For Nectonema sp., we describe and illustrate morphological features of the parasitic juvenile stage and present nucleotide sequences for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI or cox1; 451 nt), 18S rRNA gene (1777 nt), and region spanning the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and the 28S rRNA gene including the 5.8S rRNA gene and ITS2 (1218 nt in total). In an 18S maximum-likelihood tree that included 24 nematomorph species, Nectonema sp. grouped with N. agile from the northwestern Atlantic; the 18S gene from these two taxa was divergent by 11.8% K2P distance, suggesting they are different species. Nectonema species may have a broader range of host groups than previously suspected, but may have been previously misidentified as nematode parasites.

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First report of marine horsehair worms (Nematomorpha: Nectonema) parasitic in isopod crustaceans

Kakui

Fukuchi

Shimada

2021

Parasitol Res

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Decapod fisheries and parasite species richness: an exploration of host traits and parasitic influence

Duermit-Moreau,

Bojko,

Siders

et al. 2024

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

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Nematodes as evolutionary commuters between marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats

Holterman

Schratzberger

Helder

2019

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Nematodes are the only major metazoan group which is persistently abundant and diverse across marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. This could be the result of a few major habitat transitions followed by extensive diversification, or numerous habitat transitions followed by moderate diversification. To pinpoint habitat transitions, we superposed nematode habitat associations on an available phylum-wide phylogenetic tree based on small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences (≈2730 SSU rDNA sequences covering ≈1750 nematode taxa). Our analysis revealed at least 30 major habitat transitions within the phylum Nematoda. These transitions as well as their directionality were unevenly spread over the 12 major clades. Most transitions reside in Clades 1–6, and these transitions are bidirectional. Members of Clades 8–12 showed five full transitions, and these took place exclusively from terrestrial to marine systems. We relate our results to the distinct secretory–excretory systems in Clades 1–6 and Clades 8–12, as well as to differences in water permeability of the nematode cuticle. Hence, the phylum Nematoda is characterized by a relatively large number of habitat transitions followed by moderate diversification. The identification of multiple habitat transitions at a low taxonomic level will facilitate future investigations into the mechanisms underlying this unusual ecological flexibility.

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Lobster (Homarus americanus), a new host for marine horsehair worms (Nectonema agile, Nematomorpha)

Cited by 4 publications

References 11 publications

First report of marine horsehair worms (Nematomorpha: Nectonema) parasitic in isopod crustaceans

First report of marine horsehair worms (Nematomorpha: Nectonema) parasitic in isopod crustaceans

Decapod fisheries and parasite species richness: an exploration of host traits and parasitic influence

Nematodes as evolutionary commuters between marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats

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