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Effects of three Caribbean cleaner shrimps on ectoparasitic monogeneans in a semi-natural environment

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Abstract

Most research on cleaning symbioses on coral reefs has focused on fish clients being cleaned by smaller fishes. While many shrimps and other crustaceans are reported as cleaners, whether they remove parasites from fish hosts and can effectively regulate populations of ectoparasites is unclear. The effects of Pederson shrimp (Periclimenes pedersoni), spotted shrimp (P. yucatanicus), and banded coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus), on the parasitic monogenean Neobenedenia melleni on a host reef fish, blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus), were investigated. The abundance and size of N. melleni from fish with and without access to shrimps in a semi-natural macrocosm was quantified. P. pedersoni had a strong effect on both the abundance and size of parasites. In contrast, P. yucatanicus and S. hispidus had no effect on the abundance of parasites but had a small yet statistically significant effect on average size. These data suggest that P. pedersoni can play a significant role in the biological regulation of at least some ectoparasites on Caribbean reef fishes, but further suggest that some other shrimps regarded as “cleaners” may have little or no effectiveness at removing parasites and underscore the need for further verification before this term is applied.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station (VIERS), the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES), R. Hall of the University of the Virgin Islands, and Coral World Ocean Park for logistic support and use of their facilities. We also thank B. Tuttle, L. Tuttle, B. Weldon, E. Brown, W. Sears, and C. Risley from Centre College, J. Stuart, K. Scatliffe, K. Balkaran; D. Jobsis, T. Bradshaw, and N. Fleming from the University of the Virgin Islands, and volunteers from the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Virgin Islands Earthwatch teams for assisting with the collection and processing of parasite samples. E.H. Williams kindly confirmed the identity of the parasites. This work was generously funded by the Virgin Islands NSF EPSCoR program (EPS-0346483, M. Whitaker, PI), Earthwatch Institute, the Durfee Foundation, and Microsoft Corporation. This is publication number 56 from the University of the Virgin Islands Center for Marine and Environmental Studies and is dedicated to the memory of M. Whitaker.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Science and Mathematics, University of the Virgin Islands, 2 John Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, USVI, 00802, USA

    A. McCammon & D. Nemeth

  2. Department of Biology, Arkansas State University, PO Box 599, Jonesboro, AR, 72467, USA

    P. C. Sikkel

  3. Department of Biology, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Rd., Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA

    A. McCammon

Authors
  1. A. McCammon
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  2. P. C. Sikkel
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  3. D. Nemeth
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Correspondence to P. C. Sikkel.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Prof. Philip Munday

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McCammon, A., Sikkel, P.C. & Nemeth, D. Effects of three Caribbean cleaner shrimps on ectoparasitic monogeneans in a semi-natural environment. Coral Reefs 29, 419–426 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0583-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0583-8

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