First Observations of Tumor-Like Anomalies in Planktonic Copepods in the Crimean Coastal Waters

Abstract

In copepods from zooplankton samples collected in coastal waters of the Crimea near Sevastopol in 2011-2012, external tumor-like anomalies (TLA) were found. These anomalies are presumed to be parasitic protists (perhaps dinoflagellates of the family Ellobipsidae) or the hernias induced by injuries. Percentage of specimens with TLA varied, depending on the species, from 0.2 to 20.9 %. The highest occurrence of TLA was registered in the most abundant species – Acartia clausi and Paracalanus parvus

Keywords

• Ellobiopsidae
• copepods
• tumor-like anomalies (TLA)
• parasitic dinoflagellates
• Ellobiopsidae
• the Black Sea