Mark Rigby wrote:
>> Care to qualify that statement? What KIND of amphipods? Exclusively
> marine amphipods or intertidal amphipods? Intertidal amphipods, and
> freshwater, have been studied for their parasites, but not marine, as
> far as I know.
The only marine amphipod-parasite system I know of deals with the
dioecious parasitic beastie _Kronborgia_amphipodicola_ (Turbellaria,
Neorhabdocoela). These worms parasitize _Ampelisca_sp._ and
_Haploops_sp._ amphipods. The cool thing is, these worms exhibit a life
strategy identical to classic parasitoids, i.e. they are (1) parasitic
as juveniles, (2) free-living as adults, (3) host death is obligatory
for completion of the life-cycle, and (4) pathology is NOT intensity
dependent. In fact, some have argued they should therefore be called
parasitoids.
Check this out:
Christensen, A.M., and B. Kanneworff, 1965, "Life history and biology of
_Kronborgia_amphipodicola_ Christensen & Kanneworff (Turbellaria,
Neorhabdocoela), _Ophelia_ 2(2): 237-252.
-- Kimo
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A. Kimo Morris |
Department of Entomology | Office - (541)737-2453
Oregon State University | FAX - (541)737-3643
Cordley Hall 2046 | Internet - morrisk at bcc.orst.edu
Corvallis,OR 97331-2907,USA | http://www.orst.edu/~morriaar
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"I hope that some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays
its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're
having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching" -- Jack Handy
