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Parasitic isopods associated with sea turtles nesting in Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2014

José C. Rocha Júnior ,
Joseph B. Pfaller ,
Ricardo Corbetta  and
Luciana Veríssimo
José C. Rocha Júnior
Affiliation:
Projeto TAMAR/ICMBio, Praia do Forte, Mata de São João, BA, Brazil Universidade do Vale do Itajaí – UNIVALI, Itajaí, SC, Brazil
Joseph B. Pfaller*
Affiliation:
Archie Carr Center of Sea Turtle Research and Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA Caretta Research Project, Savannah, GA, USA
Ricardo Corbetta
Affiliation:
Universidade do Vale do Itajaí – UNIVALI, Itajaí, SC, Brazil
Luciana Veríssimo
Affiliation:
Projeto TAMAR/ICMBio, Praia do Forte, Mata de São João, BA, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.B. Pfaller, Archie Carr Center of Sea Turtle Research and Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. email: jpfaller@ufl.edu
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Abstract

Studies of sea turtle epibiosis have focused on the diversity and ecology of facultative commensalisms and less attention has been given to parasitic associations, in which the epibiont species derives nutrients from the tissue of the host turtle. We present the first description and quantitative survey of the parasitic isopods Excorallana costata, Excorallana bicornis and Excorallana oculata on loggerhead (N = 79) and hawksbill turtles (N = 23), and E. costata on olive ridley turtles (N = 9), nesting on Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brazil during the 2009–2010 season. Excorallana costata was the most common isopod species (N = 651), followed by E. bicornis (N = 77) and E. oculata (N = 20). Patterns include: (1) E. costata exhibited a higher frequency and intensity of parasitism than E. bicornis and E. oculata and (2) loggerheads hosted parasitic isopods at a higher frequency and intensity than hawksbills and olive ridleys. We also detected temporal shifts in the occurrence and intensity of parasitism across the nesting season, which strongly suggests that turtles were parasitized by all three isopod species during their internesting periods. Because parasitic isopods were observed only rarely prior to the 2009–2010 turtle-nesting season and have continued to be common in subsequent seasons, it is important to gain a better understanding of the basic biology of these interactions, the reasons for their recent emergence, and the potential biological impacts on turtle, as well as isopod, populations.

Keywords

isopodsExcorallanasea turtleparasiteepibiont
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 5 , August 2015 , pp. 973 - 981
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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