title: Mutualistic association of rotifer Philodina roseola with the branchiuran fish ectoparasite Argulus bengalensis at its embryonic stage.
abstract: Several rotifers including Philodina spp. are well known to make commensal and parasitic associations with different animals. The present investigation was carried out to decipher the relationship of Philodina roseola with a piscine ectoparasite Argulus bengalensis in its embryonic stage. Mechanical removal of the symbiont P. roseola from the argulid egg strips resulted in the complete (100%) failure in hatching. Several P. roseola individuals were found to feed on the solidified jelly coat of the eggs enabling the larvae to emerge under both laboratory and field conditions. Under the laboratory condition, the experimental removal of P. roseola did not affect the embryonic development, but it rendered the jelly coat intact; therefore, the larvae were unable to make hatching furrow and subsequently died. The results of our experiments thus prove this service-resource relationship to be a mutualism. Although the association is facultative for P. roseola, it is obligatory for Argulus spp. An act of intervention in this relationship thus offers a promising control of argulosis.
authors.affiliation: Fish Biology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan 731235, India.
authors.forename: Anirban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Fish Biology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan 731235, India.
authors.forename: Soumabrota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poddar
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Jhargram Raj College, Jhargram 721507, India.
authors.forename: Subha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.affiliation: Fish Biology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan 731235, India sahaskvb@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Samar Kumar
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7256-4487
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Saha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D033341:Arguloida / Q000502:physiology*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D012403:Rotifera / Q000502:physiology*; D013559:Symbiosis
keywords: Rotifera; branchiura; hatching; mutualism