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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Collecting Marine Gnathiid Isopod Fish Parasites with Light Traps
Published on: September 25, 2023
Parasites, pathogens, and other symbionts of copepods
David Bass1, Sonja Rueckert2, Rowena Stern3
1International Centre of Excellence in Aquatic Animal Health, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Barrack Road, The Nothe, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 8UB, UK; Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Sustainable Aquaculture Futures, Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
Abstract:
There is a large diversity of eukaryotic symbionts of copepods, dominated by epizootic protists such as ciliates, and metazoan parasites. Eukaryotic endoparasites, copepod-associated bacteria, and viruses are less well known, partly due to technical limitations. However, new molecular techniques, combined with a range of other approaches, provide a complementary toolkit for understanding the complete symbiome of copepods and how the symbiome relates to their ecological roles, relationships with other biota, and responses to environmental change. In this review we provide the most complete overview of the copepod symbiome to date, including microeukaryotes, metazoan parasites, bacteria, and viruses, and provide extensive literature databases to inform future studies.
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