Patterns of diversity and distribution of aquatic invertebrates and their parasites

Abstract

The majority of animals on this planet are invertebrates, and a great number of them are found in aquatic habitats including freshwater, brackish or marine environments. It is likely that they also harbour a significant fraction of all parasite biodiversity. While there have been some sporadic research efforts directed at investigating the parasite fauna of aquatic invertebrates over many decades, what we know about their diversity, ecology and distribution is still relatively limited and based largely on host parasite systems which are limited both in terms of their taxonomic diversity, habitat and geographic regions (see Kinne, 1980-1985 and Rohde, 2005 for overviews). One reason why less research effort has been directed towards investigating parasites of invertebrates compared with those of mammals, birds or fish is that with the exception of some mollusc and crustacean species, the majority of aquatic invertebrates are of little commercial value and there have been few incentives for researchers to investigate their parasites or other potential disease agents.