Masato Nitta of Hiroshima University (IMAGE)
Caption
Identifying the parasites of invasive species is one method to measure biodiversity and track ecosystem health. The parasites identified by Hiroshima University scientists infect the vermiculated sailfin catfish species Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) native to the Amazon River and invasive in the freshwater river system of Okinawa, Japan. Nitta has found a new species, Trinigyrus peregrinus (new species identified in 2015), as well as three species not previously seen in Japan, Unilatus brittani, Unilatus unilatus, and Heteropriapulus heterotylus (first reported in 2012). The results are published in the November 2016 issue of the journal Species Diversity, published by the Japanese Society of Systematic Zoology.
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Image by Caitlin E. Devor, Hiroshima University.
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