EAGER: Blood Parasite Infections in Fishes and Their Transmission by Gnathiid Isopods on Caribbean Coral Reefs.

Arkansas State University Main Campus, Jonesboro AR

Investigators

Abstract

The ocean covers most of the planet and harbors most of the Earth?s biomass and diversity, including that found within the so-called 'rainforests of the sea', coral reefs, that supports more species per area than any other ecological system. Current research on diseases in coral reef systems focuses primarily on corals and sponges, the major invertebrate architects of reefs, and how these diseases contribute to morbidity and mortality of such organisms, causes that in turn result in major shifts in community structure. Yet an estimated 80% of the organisms on coral reefs are parasites, which, like terrestrial systems, include many arthropods. The study of animal parasites and diseases has historically been the realm of pathologists, veterinary scientists, and animal husbandry professionals, while at the same time attracting the attention of some evolutionary biologists. Given that parasitism is the most common animal lifestyle and that many diseases are either caused or transmitted by parasites, it is therefore surprising that, historically, few ecologists and environmental biologists have addressed the links among such. However, there has been considerable interest in recent years in the interface between ecology and disease biology: understanding the link between biotic and abiotic environmental factors and the dynamics of diseases and their vectors. Thus, research in marine systems is particularly needed to achieve a comprehensive and balanced understanding of the ecology of diseases. Arguably the most ecologically important among these are gnathiid isopods. Common members of the benthic zooplankton community, they are the major ectoparasite of reef fishes and main food item for cleaner organisms. As with their terrestrial blood-feeding counterparts (e.g., ticks and mosquitoes), they have been shown to transmit protozoan parasites to fish hosts. The ultimate goal of this project is to understand the effects of changes in benthic community structure of coral reefs and host density on the abundance of ectoparasitic gnathiid isopods, the per capita risk of infestation of gnathiids on fish hosts, and the prevalence of protozoan and other diseases of fish hosts in the Caribbean. The principal investigators propose to determine the range of Caribbean hosts for haemogregarine protozoans and test the important assumption that Caribbean gnathiid isopods also transmit them. Broader Impacts: This research will support undergraduate and undergraduate students and their interactions within multiple institutions, including Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, University of the Virgin Islands, and University of Puerto Rico. It will further build on existing relationships with local US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico resource managers and K-12 schools and will contribute to their local economies. Finally, it will foster collaboration with scientists in South Africa and the United Kingdom.