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Due to their large size and mesoparasitic life history there have been a number of studies of Pennella, the members of which are among the largest of the parasitic Copepoda. All species are found as adults buried into the flesh of marine bony fish, except for a single species, Pennella balaenopterae which can be found in the muscles and blubber ...
These droplets may take up over half of the volume of their bodies in polar species. Many copepods (e.g., fish lice like the Siphonostomatoida) are parasites, and feed on their host organisms. In fact, three of the 10 known orders of copepods are wholly or largely parasitic, with another three comprising most of the free-living species. [15]
However, some species have been found infesting, and presumably causing, external skin lesions of fish. Immature instars and mature males of Ergasilidae are fairly typical free-living planktonic copepods. The mature females also can swim competently and at least one species, Ergasilus chautauquaensis, is not known to be parasitic at all. [3]
Ergasilus curticrus is a freshwater parasitic copepod named in 2015. Described from the Orinoco river basin, it was found solely to be hosted by individuals of the Characiform fish species Bryconops giacopinii. Of those located in South America, it is one of only five species in its genus to be found outside of Brazil.
The nauplii will go through three stages before molting into copepodids, which associate with fish gills. [2] After a further five stages and mating, the male leaves the host and dies, while the female transitions into the anchored stage (may move to different fish host). [2] An anchor worm Lernaea sp. parasite on a Murray cod
The adult female copepod is parasitic while the adult male is free-living. The head and neck of the female burrow into the host fish and large, hard cysts are formed in the host's organs. [4] The attachment is made by hooking to the fish with the prehensile second antennae, the remaining parts of the copepod's body hanging free. [5]
Lernaeopodidae is a family of parasitic copepods. [1] [2] The females are typically large and fleshy, and attach to the host permanently using a plug made of chitin called the bulla. The males cling on to the females using their antennae. [2] They parasitize both marine and freshwater fish.
Sea lice cause physical and enzymatic damage at their sites of attachment and feeding, which results in abrasion-like lesions that vary in their nature and severity depending upon a number of factors, including host species, age, and general health of the fish. Whether stressed fish are particularly prone to infestation is unclear.