Journal
JOURNAL OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
Volume 88, Issue 2, Pages 307-309Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315408000684
Keywords
parasitic castration; bopyrid isopods; Stenopus hispidus; Argeiopsis inhacae
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The present work reports the existence of parasitic castration induced by the bopyrid isopod Argeiopsis inhacae parasitizing the branchial chamber of female Stenopus hispidus. Parasitized and unparasitized females of S. hispidus displayed similar intermoult periods (14 +/- 2 d) and exhibited similar mating behaviours. However, despite exhibiting typical mating behaviour, parasitized females were never able to produce any egg clutch when paired with unparasitized males; neither displayed the typical 'dorsal bright green spot' evidencing the presence of large vitellogenic oocytes. The idea that bopyrid infections generally lead to the 'reproductive death' of the decapod host is reinforced and the apparent existence of a heavily sex-biased infection towards females in S. hispidus may just be a consequence of the still limited number of surveyed specimens.
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