The polychaete Histriobdella homari and major groups of epibionts on the European lobster, Homarus gammarus and other decapods

• Published in: Crustaceana
• Main Author: Øresland, Vidar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2019
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Aquatic Science; European lobster; Homarus gammarus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685403-00003865; https://brill.com/view/journals/cr/92/2/article-p189_5.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/cr/92/2/article-p189_5.xml

Abstract The quantitative biology and ecology of epibiotic communities on decapods are only vaguely known. An analytic method revealed close to 100% of metazoan epibionts among the eggs and gills of some decapods in Swedish waters. High abundances of the epibiotic polychaete Histriobdella homari were found (100% prevalence) and European lobsters, Homarus gammarus , with a carapace length of 100 mm have, as a mean, approx. 6700 H. homari among their old eggs, underlining the importance of these epibiont polychaetes as cleaners of lobster eggs (and gills). For the first time, a nematode ( Pontonema sp.) was found feeding on H. homari . Gills of American lobsters, Homarus americanus , caught in Swedish waters were infested with the European parasitic copepod Nicothoe astaci (80% prevalence). This study shows that on decapods a number of epibionts (Ciliophora, Nematoda, Hydrachnidia, Copepoda, Ostracoda, Amphipoda and Kinorhyncha) can be quantified, using the method adopted here, which will enable a better understanding of epibiotic communities.