Emerging infectious disease in sea stars: castrating ciliate parasites in Patiria miniata

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

J. Sunday¹  L. Raeburn¹  M. W. Hart¹ 

关键词: Scuticociliate;    Asterias amurensis;    Biocontrol;    Sperm;   

DOI  :  10.3354/dao01949

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: Orchitophrya stellarum is a holotrich ciliate that facultatively parasitizes and castrates male asteriid sea stars. We discovered a morphologically similar ciliate in testes of an asterinid sea star, the northeastern Pacific bat star Patiria miniata (Brandt, 1835). This parasite may represent a threat to Canadian populations of this iconic sea star. Confirmation that the parasite is O. stellarum would indicate a considerable host range expansion, and suggest that O. stellarum is a generalist sea star pathogen.

【 授权许可】

Unknown