Date of Award

4-29-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Biology, MS

First Advisor

Paul Sikkel

Committee Members

Jack O'Brien; Tanja McKay; Travis Marsico

Abstract

This study was conducted at shallow reef sites within Great Lameshur Bay, St. John, United States Virgin Islands during the late spring and summer of 2010 and 2011. Susceptibility to infestation by a gnathiid isopod (Gnathia marleyi: Crustacea: Isopoda) was examined among 16 species from 9 families and 3 orders of common Caribbean reef fishes. All species were susceptible to infestation by gnathiids; however, nocturnal species from the families Haemulidae and Lutjanidae had the highest infestations. In a follow up study, female gnathiids were reared to adulthood to test for differences in components of reproductive success (brood size, larval length) of female gnathiids that fed from different host fishes. Species from the families most susceptible to gnathiid infestation: Haemulidae and Lutjanidae, produced females that released zuphea larvae that were significantly longer in length than fish species from the families less susceptible to infestation. Our findings have important implications for the role of gnathiids in Caribbean reef food webs.

Rights Management

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Included in

Biology Commons

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