Whale lice
| Whale lice | ||||||||||||
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Cyamus boopis (female) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cyamidae | ||||||||||||
| Rafinesque , 1815 |
The Whale louse (Cyamidae) are a family of amphipods (amphipods), as ectoparasites on the skin of whales live.
Appearance
The whale lice are about 2 to 15 mm in size. Your body is very much flattened, the abdomen largely reduced. The legs, especially the back three pairs of legs, have become claw-like appendages with which the animals can cling to their hosts.
Way of life
The whale lice are usually very specifically tied to one type of whale. They stay on their host throughout their development and do not go through a swimming phase. The host bond is more pronounced in baleen whales than in toothed whales , and specific species of whale lice can be found in almost every whale species. The infestation of the sperm whale is also gender specific. The Wallaus Cyamus catodontis lives exclusively on the skin of male sperm whales, while Neocyamus physeteris is only found in females and juveniles.
The wall lice settle in places on the body where they are protected from water currents. They are found mainly on the natural body openings or on sores, in baleen whales mainly in the folds of the abdomen. Slow-swimming baleen whales can have up to 100,000 specimens per whale, while toothed whales or faster-swimming baleen whales have a significantly lower number of individuals.
In some species of Whale louse infestation of hosts with seems barnacles (Cirripedia) such as barnacles (Balanidae) to play a major role.
Skin particles and body secretions from the host as well as algae that settle on the body of the host serve as food . The minor skin damage inflicted on the whale does not play a major pathological role.
The development of the whale lice is obviously closely linked to the way of life of the whales and their migration.
Systematics
- Genus Cyamus
- Cyamus antarcticensis
- Cyamus bahamondei
- Cyamus balaenopterae
- Cyamus boopis
- Cyamus catodontis (on the skin of male sperm whales)
- Cyamus ceti
- Cyamus erraticus
- Cyamus eschrichtii
- Cyamus gracilis
- Cyamus kessleri
- Cyamus mesorubraedon
- Cyamus monodontis
- Cyamus nodosus
- Cyamus orcini
- Cyamus orubraedon
- Cyamus ovalis
- Cyamus scammoni
- Isocyamus genus
- Genus Neocyamus
- Neocyamus physeteris (on the skin of female sperm whales)
- Genus Platycyamus
- Genus Scutocyamus
- Genus Sirenocyamus †
- Genus Syncyamus
literature
- J. Niethammer, F. Krapp (ed.): Handbook of mammals in Europe. Volume 6: Marine Mammals. Part 1A: Whales and Dolphins 1 ; AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1994, ISBN 3-89104-560-3 .
