Ectoparasitism on deep-sea fishes in the western North Atlantic: In situ observations from ROV surveys.

ABSTRACT: A complete understanding of how parasites influence marine ecosystem functioning requires characterizing a broad range of parasite-host interactions while determining the effects of parasitism in a variety of habitats. In deep-sea fishes, the prevalence of parasitism remains poorly understood. Knowledge of ectoparasitism, in particular, is limited because collection methods often cause dislodgment of ectoparasites from their hosts. High-definition video collected during 43 remotely operated vehicle surveys (2013-2014) provided the opportunity to examine ectoparasitism on fishes across habitats (open slope, canyon, seamount, cold seep) and depths (494-4689 m) off the northeastern U.S., while providing high-resolution images and valuable observations of fish behavior. Only 9% (n = 125 indivi

SUBMITTER: Quattrini AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4971233 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature