Is this Love — Bob Marley Gets a Parasite
July 13, 2012
Out of respect and admiration for Bob Marley, Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of biology at Arkansas State University, named a marine parasite species, Gnathia marleyi, after the famed Jamaican reggae singer.
The creature is a tiny crustacean within the family of Gnathiids that researchers say is found exclusively in the Caribbean. The tiny creatures can be found hiding amongst coral rubble, algae and sponges.
Early-stage G. marleyi feed on fish host blood, limph or mucus, but when they reach adulthood they become free-living, non-feeding, benthic organisms.
Researchers say that while about 80 percent of all organisms found on coral reefs are parasitic, their importance to the ecology of marine life is not all fully understood.
Sikkel and his research team say that the family Gnathiid are among the most ecologically important and interesting marine parasites due to the role they play in fish disease transmission. He actually suspects that G. marleyi may be a vector in transmitting a strain of fish malaria that weakens the immune systems of reef fish.
Generally, studying the effects of changes in sea-bottom communities associated with fish, coral and sponge diseases and their interactions among other species help with the advancement of knowledge of bloodborne pathogens.
If you want to learn more about G. marleyi, Sikkel and his research team describedGnathia marleyi and introduced all of the parasite’s life stages in the June issue of the journal Zootaxia.
