An update and ecological perspective on certain sentinel helminth endoparasites within the Mediterranean Sea
Marialetizia Palomba,
Erica Marchiori,
Perla Tedesco,
Marialetizia Fioravanti,
Federica Marcer,
Andrea Gustinelli,
Renato Aco-Alburqueque,
Beatrice Belli,
Daniele Canestrelli,
Mario Santoro,
Paolo Cipriani,
Simonetta Mattiucci,
Rudi Cassini,
Laura Rinaldi
Affiliations
Marialetizia Palomba
Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB), Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy
Erica Marchiori
Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Legnaro, Padua, Italy
Perla Tedesco
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Bologna, Italy
Marialetizia Fioravanti
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Bologna, Italy
Federica Marcer
Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, Legnaro, Padua, Italy
Andrea Gustinelli
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell'Emilia, Bologna, Italy
Renato Aco-Alburqueque
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
Beatrice Belli
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Daniele Canestrelli
Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB), Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy
Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
Paolo Cipriani
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Parasitology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Section of Contaminants and Biohazards, Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Nordnes, Bergen, Norway
The Mediterranean Sea is recognized as a marine biodiversity hotspot. This enclosed basin is facing several anthropogenic-driven threats, such as seawater warming, pollution, overfishing, bycatch, intense maritime transport and invasion by alien species. The present review focuses on the diversity and ecology of specific marine trophically transmitted helminth endoparasites (TTHs) of the Mediterranean ecosystems, aiming to elucidate their potential effectiveness as ‘sentinels’ of anthropogenic disturbances in the marine environment. The chosen TTHs comprise cestodes and nematodes sharing complex life cycles, involving organisms from coastal and marine mid/upper-trophic levels as definitive hosts. Anthropogenic disturbances directly impacting the free-living stages of the parasites and their host population demographies can significantly alter the distribution, infection levels and intraspecific genetic variability of these TTHs. Estimating these parameters in TTHs can provide valuable information to assess the stability of marine trophic food webs. Changes in the distribution of particular TTHs species can also serve as indicators of sea temperature variations in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the bioaccumulation of pollutants. The contribution of the chosen TTHs to monitor anthropogenic-driven changes in the Mediterranean Sea, using their measurable attributes at both spatial and temporal scales, is proposed.
