Taxonomic status and epidemiology of the mesoparasitic copepod Pennella balaenoptera in cetaceans from the western Mediterranean

Pennella balaenoptera is a mesoparasitic copepod that has been reported in at least 17 cetacean species. Subtle morphological differences in the first antennae of adult females have been used to discriminate this species from P. filosa, a species infecting fishes. Other morphological traits are unre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diseases of aquatic organisms 2018-06, Vol.128 (3), p.249-258
Main Authors: Fraija-Fernández, Natalia, Hernández-Hortelano, Ana, Ahuir-Baraja, Ana E, Raga, Juan Antonio, Aznar, Francisco Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Antennae
Cetacea
Coastal environments
Cytochrome
Cytochromes
Divergence
Dolphins
Epidemiology
Females
Life cycle engineering
Life cycles
Marine mammals
Mitochondria
Morphology
Pennella balaenopterae
Pennella filosa
Species
Stranding
Taxonomy
Tursiops truncatus
Ziphius cavirostris
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Summary:Pennella balaenoptera is a mesoparasitic copepod that has been reported in at least 17 cetacean species. Subtle morphological differences in the first antennae of adult females have been used to discriminate this species from P. filosa, a species infecting fishes. Other morphological traits are unreliable because of their high plasticity, and no molecular data are available to confirm the taxonomic status of P. balaenoptera as an independent species. We found no consistent morphological differences of the first antennae between P. balaenoptera and P. filosa collected from cetaceans and fish in the western Mediterranean. Molecular data on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I failed to show reciprocal monophyly for the 2 species, and nucleotide divergence between them was low (mean ± SD [range]: 4.1 ± 0.006% [0.5-8.9]). Thus, P. balaenoptera and P. filosa are considered conspecific. We also obtained data on infection parameters of P. balaenoptera based on 450 individuals of 6 cetacean species stranded on the Spanish Mediterranean coast between 1980 and 2017. Prevalence was significantly lowest in the most coastal species, the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus (3.6%) and highest in the most oceanic species, Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris (100%). This suggests that the life cycle of P. balaenoptera is primarily oceanic. Interestingly, P. filosa also occurs in the oceanic realm infecting large fishes. This ecological similarity further supports the hypothesis that P. balaenoptera and P. filosa are conspecific.
ISSN:0177-5103
1616-1580
DOI:10.3354/dao03226