Parasitic marine fishes

Abstract

Apart from kleptoparasitic birds such as skuas and frigate birds ('Fregata' spp.) which harass other sea birds, causing them to regurgitate their prey of fish, squid or prawns, and the kelp gull, 'Larus dominicanus', which parasitises whales by feeding on their flesh, all other vertebrate marine parasites are fishes. Even among the fishes relatively few species are parasitic. One group, the pearlfishes, are endoparasites of sea cucumbers, but the rest, that is the lampreys, angler-fishes cleanerfish mimics, fangblennies, scale feeders, cookiecutters and various browsers, are ectoparasites, especially of other fishes. Of the ectoparasites, some spend extended times attached to a single host; others strike, detach a piece of flesh, and depart. We will treat the ectoparasites first, beginning with the most primitive, the lampreys.