Mr. Sikkel studied the species in a laboratory.
“Adult males look a little bit like bulldozers. They have square heads, and they have these pincers on their head and they are very cool-looking. And the females -- small head and a really big body that’s full of eggs.”
About eighty percent of all organisms found on coral reefs are parasites. Gnathiids are among the most important parasites in the oceans. Mr. Sikkel says the levels of gnathiids can show how healthy a reef is. In some waters, he is seeing fish more heavily covered with gnathiids -- marleyi among them.
“Too many gnathiids hurt the fish and too little coral, we think, leads to more gnathiids. So in a, in a nice healthy, you know, coral-rich environment, we don’t find very many gnathiids -- fish, you know, just get a few of them. But in areas where there isn’t much live coral, there are a lot more gnathiids and the fish get much heavier loads on them.”
Mr. Sikkel suspects that Gnathia marleyi may also be important in passing a malaria-like fish disease that weakens the animal’s natural defenses. His team is currently studying whether this pathogen is also present in the Caribbean.
“And then from there, once we find the species of fish that are infected, then we’ll do experiments to determine whether or not the gnathia marleyi actually plays a role in transmitting those blood-born organisms.”
Paul Sikkel hopes his discovery will lead to more information about parasites and the effect they can have on marine environments.
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