Decay of parasite community similarity with host phylogenetic and geographic distances among deep-sea fish (grenadiers).

ABSTRACT: Although parasite community studies are growing in numbers, our understanding of which macro-ecological and evolutionary processes have shaped parasite communities is still based on a narrow range of host–parasite systems. The present study assessed the diversity and endoparasite species composition in New Zealand deep-sea fish (grenadiers, family Macrouridae), and tested the effects of host phylogeny and geography on the structure of endoparasite communities using a distance decay framework. We found that grenadiers from the Chatham Rise harboured a surprisingly high diversity of digeneans, cestodes and nematodes, with different species of grenadiers having different parasite assemblages. Our results demonstrate that community similarity based on the presence/absence of parasites was only

SUBMITTER: Chai X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10090766 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature