Epimeria parasitica
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Original drawing of a female Epimeria parasitica by M. Sars, 1859 |
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| M. Sars , 1859 |
Epimeria parasitica is a crustacean from the order of the amphipods . The species lives in the north-eastern Atlantic off Scandinavia and the British Isles as a parasite of the echinoderms Parastichopus tremulus and Porania pulvillus .
features
The dark red color of the amphipod is striking, which seems to be an adaptation to the color of its host animals, the red sea cucumber ( Parastichopus tremulus ) and the red starfish Porania pulvillus . Red is a camouflage color for organisms at greater depths in the sea, since the red component of the light is absorbed more strongly than other colors with increasing depth in the water. Epimeria parasitica becomes just under an inch long.
habitat
The sea cucumber Parastichopus tremulus and with it the parasitic Epimeria lives in the North Sea on the coast of Norway, in the North Sea , off the Shetland Islands and the Hebrides to the western coasts of Scotland and Ireland and the Spanish Atlantic coast. It occurs in benthos at depths between 20 and 100 meters. The starfish Porania pulvillus , which can also be attacked by Epimeria parasitica , is very common in the same habitat. It also occurs off the coast of England and inhabits depths of up to 300 m, sometimes even greater depths. The distribution area of Epimeria parasitica extends, according to recent finds, to the western Mediterranean .
Epimeria lives on these host animals as an ectoparasite and feeds on skin substances .
literature
- W. Vader: Association between amphipods and echinoderms. Astarte, 11: 123-134, 1978
Web links
- Description at Netherlands Biodiversity Information Facility
Footnotes
- ↑ Michel Jangoux: Diseases of Echinodermata. III. Agents metazoans (Annelida to Pisces). Diseases of aquatic Organisms, Vol 3: 59-83, October 1987, p. 69 online version (PDF; 3.7 MB)
- ^ Joan E. Cartes, Damià Jaume and Teresa Madurell: Local changes in the composition and community structure of suprabenthic peracarid crustaceans on the bathyal Mediterranean: influence of environmental factors. Marine Biology, Volume 143, Number 4, Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg, October 2003
- ↑ Patrice Francour: Predation on Holothurians: a literature review. Invertebrate Biology, 16 (1): 52-60, American Microscopical Society, 1997