Wednesday 26 February 2014 at 3:00pm

Title: “Out of nowhere: emerging fish parasites in a rapidly changing sea ”

Speaker: Arik Diamant, Ph.D.
Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute, National Center for Mariculture, Eilat, Israel

Host: Eric Schott, Ph.D.

Abstract:
Like many water bodies today, the Mediterranean Sea is subjected to a wide array of anthropogenic impacts. Since its inauguration in 1869, the Suez Canal, a man-made passage connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, a crucial maritime link between Europe and east Asia, has become an effective conduit through which Erythrean biota invade the Mediterranean. Native and alien faunal elements have been mixing in the eastern Mediterranean (Levant) basin, creating unique species assemblages representing very different zoogeographical origins. This steady, persistent influx of alien species is increasingly transforming the Levant basin into a pseudo-province of the Red Sea. Although we have only fragmentary information on the roles of parasites in this process, it is clear that both native parasites and alien parasite species brought in with their invasive hosts are involved. The host-parasite interactions of some of these species were recently investigated in a study carried out on the Israeli and Turkish coasts. Microsporidia (phylum Microspora) were found to induce significant infections in their Mediterranean host populations – both in native and alien fish. In this presentation, we will look at the effects of such parasites on their hosts at the individual and host populations and the potential impact on the rapidly changing Mediterranean coastal marine ecosystems.