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The tanaid Hexapleomera robusta (Crustacea: Peracarida) from the Caribbean manatee, with comments on other crustacean epibionts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2008

Benjamín Morales-Vela ,
Eduardo Suárez-Morales ,
Janneth Padilla-Saldívar  and
Richard W. Heard
Benjamín Morales-Vela
Affiliation:
El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Unidad Chetumal A.P. 424, Chetumal, Quintana Roo 77000, Mexico
Eduardo Suárez-Morales*
Affiliation:
El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Unidad Chetumal A.P. 424, Chetumal, Quintana Roo 77000, Mexico
Janneth Padilla-Saldívar
Affiliation:
El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Unidad Chetumal A.P. 424, Chetumal, Quintana Roo 77000, Mexico
Richard W. Heard
Affiliation:
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39566, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Eduardo Suárez-Morales El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) Unidad Chetumal A.P. 424 Chetumal, Quintana Roo 77000Mexico email: esuarez@ecosur.mx
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Abstract

The tanaidaceans are among the most conspicuous and ecologically relevant benthic microcrustaceans in the marine realm but there are only a few records of species of tanaids associated with other marine organisms. During a long-term survey on the biology and distribution of the Caribbean manatee Trichechus manatus manatus Linnaeus in Mexican waters, parasites and epibionts were collected from 47 individuals that were captured for tagging in two bay systems. Well-established epibiotic communities of the tanaidacean Hexapleomera robusta (Moore) were found on eight of these animals; this tanaid crustacean formed patches of tubes adhered to the skin surface. Patches were distributed in different parts of the body surface but mainly along the backbone depression, the caudal zone, and on the lateral margins; in some instances they were related to clusters of barnacles. Highly significant differences of infestation rates were revealed between Chetumal Bay and Ascensión Bay, the latter representing better conditions (high salinity and hydrodynamism) for tanaid invasion and settlement on the manatee. It is speculated that the tanaid is a commensal; no visible damage was found in the host and its presence was not related to skin lesions. The tanaid probably captures suspended particles as the manatee feeds. This is the first confirmed record of a symbiotic association involving a tanaid and the Caribbean manatee. The tanaid species recorded (H. robusta) and the harpacticoid copepod Balaenophilus manatorum (Ortíz, Lalana & Torres), have both been recorded also as epibionts of sea turtles. The tanaid has been known from sea turtles for some time, but the copepod was first recorded from a manatee and was subsequently found on sea turtles a few years later.

Keywords

aquatic vertebratessymbiosiscrustaceansmammals
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , May 2008 , pp. 591 - 596
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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