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Anilocra laticaudata
This parasitic shrimp was spotted on a coney...saltwater fish...while diving in the Turks and Caicos islands. Per Wikipedia..."Cymothoida is the name of a suborder of isopod crustaceans with a mostly carnivorous or parasitic lifestyle." Further..."A number of isopod groups have evolved a parasitic lifestyle, particularly as external parasites of fish.[9] They can damage or kill their hosts and can cause significant economic loss to commercial fisheries. [16]" [9 Ruppert, Edward E.; Fox, Richard, S.; Barnes, Robert D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology (7 ed.). Cengage Learning. pp. 661–667. ISBN 978-81-315-0104-7. [16] Ravichandran, S.; Rameshkumar, G.; Balasubramanian, T. (2010). "Infestation of isopod parasites in commercial marine fishes". Journal of Parasitic Diseases
Caribbean reefs, this was spotted in the Turks and Caicos.
see Welicky et al. 2017 ZooKeys. On groupers throughout West Indies. She used our specimens in the description. Once combined with our Anilocra Haemuli (Grunt Isopod).
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
That is just wonderful. I wonder if the isopods lose their legs after they attach themselves to the host. Thanks for sharing this Jim.
Superb spotting Jim. Thanks for sharing this one. A location I'm most unlikely to visit.
Extremely interesting shot James! This image captures the behavior of two unique creatures. Well done!
Spotted on Jan 16, 2010
Submitted on Apr 15, 2015
