Marine Parasitology

Description

Marine Parasitology is an important field in aquatic science. Because of its close linkeage to other fields in marine sciences such as fisheries, mariculture, fish ecology and environmental monitoring, marine parasitology should be seen in the context of other marine science disciplines. Fish and fisheries products are important sources of protein and contribute a great deal to available food resources worldwide. Over-fishing and environmental degradation are already threatening most of the larger fish stocks, and a further increase in fisheries production seems to be dependent on the cultivation of aquatic organisms within semi-extensive and intensive mariculture. An intensive culture leads to an increasing risk of infection by disease causing agents, such as fungi, viruses, bacteria and parasites. Fish parasites are important biological indicators to describe migration patterns of fish stocks, trophic and phylogenetic interactions as well as pollution and eutrophication. Within fisheries biology, fish parasites were successfully used to separate different fish stocks. Longliving species such as endoparasitic helminths can give information on the seasonal migrations of their hosts and migration habits of different age groups, while short-living species, combining a direct life cycle and high reproduction rates such as protozoan ectoparasites and monogenean trematodes can give information on environmental conditions. Marine conservation is the protection of marine species and ecosystems in oceans and seas worldwide. It involves protection and restoration of species, populations and habitats and mitigating human activities such as overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, whaling and other issues that effect marine life and habitats. This comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date work provides the definitive overview of marine parasites worldwide. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers in parasitology and marine biology and will also be of interest to ecologists, aquaculturists and invertebrate biologists.