Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Collecting Marine Gnathiid Isopod Fish Parasites with Light Traps
Published on: September 25, 2023
Hooked on fish blood: the reliance of a gill parasite on haematophagy
Enrique Riera-Ferrer1, Itziar Estensoro1, Beatriz López-Gurillo1
1Fish Pathology Group, Institute of Aquaculture Torre de la Sal (IATS, CSIC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Castellón, Spain.
Abstract:
Parasitism involves diverse evolutionary strategies, including adaptations for blood feeding, which provides essential nutrients for growth and reproduction. Sparicotyle chrysophrii (Polyopisthocotyla: Microcotylidae), an ectoparasitic flatworm, infects the gills of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), significantly affecting fish health, welfare and Mediterranean cage farm profitability. Despite its impact, limited information exists on its feeding behaviour. This study demonstrates the presence of blood and exogenous haem groups in S. chrysophrii and explores its digestive tract using light and electron microscopy, elucidating its internal morphology and spatial arrangement. Elemental analysis of the digestive haematin cells shows residual oxidized haem depots as haematin crystals. Additionally, we studied the impact of the blood feeding on the host by estimating the average volume of blood intake for an adult parasite (2.84 ± 2.12µl·24h-1) and we described the significant drop of the plasmatic free iron levels in infected hosts. Overall, we demonstrate the parasite's reliance on its host blood, the parasite's buccal and digestive morphological adaptations for blood feeding and the provoked effect on the fish host's health.
More Related Videos
07:49Using the Protozoan Paramecium caudatum as a Vehicle for Food-borne Infections in Zebrafish Larvae
Published on: January 7, 2019
12:14Exploring Life History Choices: Using Temperature and Substrate Type as Interacting Factors for Blowfly Larval and Female Preferences
Published on: November 17, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists I
Diversity of Protists II
Microbial Nutrition
Symbiosis
Predator-Prey Interactions
Phagocytosis