Parasitism
Grunts and Gnathiids: One Fish’s Daily Migration to Escape Parasites?
Animals move for a number of reasons. The French grunt leaves the coral reefs at night for seagrass. A group of scientists proposes and provides good evidence for why they might do that! Read on to discover whether they’re leaving to avoid being parasitized?
Can being sick be a good thing for surviving ocean acidification?
Scientists (myself included!) have been doing a lot of work on how marine animals respond to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, but CO2 alone isn’t the only problem. This study looks at how having a parasite affects survival in marine snails exposed to high CO2 – do they survive longer in those conditions with or without a bunch of parasites? Read on for a surprising answer!
Better Together: Mutualisms contribute to reef fish recruitment
All other things being equal, would you rather live where mutually beneficial relationships are available or where they aren’t? Well, if you’re like me, you’d prefer beneficial relationships. And I’m not alone in that. It turns out that damselfish on reefs prefer to settle where there are cleaner wrasses to keep them parasite-free. Read on to find out more!
It’s a virus’ world: Glaciers host unique viral communities
Scientists have only recently started studying the wealth of biological diversity that is found on top of glaciers. Cryoconite holes hold microscopic communities of algae, bacteria, and viruses. These studies are revealing an increasingly complex web of interactions between community members, driving the evolution of many unique adaptations to survive in such stiff competition.
Sex and parasitism on the open sea and in a fish’s mouth.
Parisites live in fish mouths and undergo opportunistic sex changes.
Gulls in Argentina bully whales into changing their behavior
Whales are a lot like people: if something’s annoying or hurting you, you’ll go out of your way to avoid it, and whales do the same thing. This study out of Argentina focuses on how gull attacks have changed the way southern right whales breathe. Read on to find out what they do differently!
Sunday brunch: Lox with… lice?
Lox and lice. Not a combination of critters you envision when planning your Sunday brunch. Unfortunately, an increase in drug resistant sea lice is threatening both wild and farmed salmonid populations.
Deadly Dino’s
Copepods dominate the world’s oceans. They are important in the marine food web and help to regulate the global carbon cycle. Being abundant in the ocean is not always fun. Copepods attract attention from infectious parasites, especially from a certain species of dinoflagellate. What potential effects can this parasite have on copepods and what other large-scale implications may arise?
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