A pycnogonid-ophiuroid association |
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| Authors: | N A Sloan |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, Queen Mary College, University of London, London, England;(2) Bermuda Biological Station, St. George's West, 1-15, Bermuda, USA |
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| Abstract: | Three species of the ophiuroid genus Ophiocoma (O. doederleini de Loriol, O. pica Müller and Troschel and O. erinaceus Müller and Troschel) are host to the pycnogonid Anoplodactylus ophiurophilus Stock n.sp. on Aldabra atoll, Seychelles Islands. Infestation levels of the host ophiuroids from 3 localities differed markedly according to species, and lay between 83.7 and 3.6%. Host-specificity is related to microhabitats and feeding activities of the hosts. The position of the pycnogonids on the host (near the mouth along the ambulacra) and their feeding is related to food stealing and ectoparasitism. This is the first report of a pycnogonid-ophiuroid association. |
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