Infested Dirona albolineata from British Columbia

November 25, 2008
From: Marli Wakeling


Concerning message #22030:

Dear Bill,

While going through some photos from earlier this year, I found this Dirona albolineata with a several copepod egg sacs and some other infestation that looks like a worm or leech. Do you have any idea what this creature is, and if so, is it a parasite?

Locality: Barkley Sound, 20 m., British Columbia, Canada, Pacific, 19 May 2008, Rocky Reef. Length: 10 cm.. Photographer: Marli Wakeling.

Cheers,
Marli Wakeling

scubamarli@gmail.com

Wakeling, M., 2008 (Nov 25) Infested Dirona albolineata from British Columbia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22038

Hi Marli,

Well the endoparasitic copepod, Ismaila is pretty obvious, with its white sausage-shaped egg masses, but I have no clue what the worm-like critter (assuming it is a critter) is. We'll have to throw this out to all of the Forum's readers for ideas.

Concerning the copepod, an interesting paper was presented two weeks ago in Vancouver, BC, at the Western Society of Naturalists annual meeting by M. Wolf & C.M. Young from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Univ. of Oregon.  Its title "Castrator or Constraint? Impacts of the parasitic copepod Ismaila belciki on the reproductive output of its nudibranch host, Janolus fuscus". Other species of  Ismaila are known to destroy the gonads of their hosts. The authors found that the Ismaila belciki infects over 60 percent of the slugs in Oregon, but because egg production is not effected they conclude it is not a castrator.

Best wishes,
Dave Behrens

Behrens, D.W., 2008 (Nov 25). Comment on Infested Dirona albolineata from British Columbia by Marli Wakeling. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22038

Factsheet

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