The effects of Splanchnotrophus willemi infecting Ancula gibbosa (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Nudibranchia)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2006
Abstract
The parasitic copepod, Splanchnotrophus willemi, is recorded infecting the nudibranch Ancula gibbosa for the first time in the UK. Seven out of twenty Ancula gibbosa sampled from Mumbles, Swansea, UK, were found to be infected with S. willemi. Light microscopy was used to investigate the effects of S. willemi on its host. In six hosts the internal damage caused was minimal. However, in one host the damage was extensive resulting in the disintegration of the digestive and reproductive viscera. One other A. gibbosa not parasitized, exhibited similar damage and it was postulated that this animal may have survived infection. In all cases of infection there was never more than one male or one female S. willemi present.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 86 , Issue 6 , December 2006 , pp. 1437 - 1441
- Copyright
- 2006 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
- 4
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