Abstract
Patterns in parasite diversity are shaped by their environmental and ecological settings, and to better understand their interactions with hosts and the corresponding biology, it is crucial to understand these context-dependent patterns. To achieve this, we use cymothoid isopods, an important group of fish parasites, to test a long-standing hypothesis about parasite diversity and prevalence pattern: whether semi-enclosed water bodies allow low diversity and high prevalence of parasitic isopods. Specifically, we compare these patterns between Chilika lagoon (Odisha, India), a semi-enclosed water body, and the adjoining Odisha coast (India). Our finding reveals that the semi-enclosed Chilika lagoon has a considerably lower diversity of parasitic isopods than its adjoining open sea along the Odisha coast. Additionally, the parasitic isopod infection levels in Chilika lagoon are noticeably higher, and isopod assemblage is less even than those in coastal waters along the Odisha coast. Our results support the hypothesised association between enclosed water bodies, parasite diversity, and host prevalence and contribute to an enhanced comprehension of the ecology of parasitic isopods in distinct marine environments.
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Data availability
All the specimens are deposited at the Molecular Systematics and Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Berhampur University, Odisha, India, and can be verified after sending a request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
We are incredibly thankful to the facilities and support extended by the authority of Berhampur University, Odisha, India, and Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director, ZSI, for completing the work. The communicating author acknowledges the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Govt. of India, for the project grant (File No. EEQ/2021/000048), without which the work couldn’t have been possible.
Funding
The work was supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (File No. EEQ/2021/000048) as a project grant to the corresponding author.
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SKM, SR, and JKS: data acquisition, material examination, analysis, and manuscript preparation; AS, SKM, and JKS: conceptualisation and data analysis; BT and AM: critical analysis of the manuscript.
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Mohapatra, S.K., Swain, A., Roy, S. et al. Low diversity, high dominance, and high host prevalence of parasitic isopods of the family Cymothoidae in Chilika lagoon, India: a comparative study between a semi-enclosed ecosystem and its adjoining open region. Parasitol Res 123, 188 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08208-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-024-08208-y