Shrimp Story

Pandalid shrimp.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

Shrimp are a significant catch in Oregon, so something affecting them can affect the fishing community.  On Thursday, April 29, 3:30 p.m., the Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Research Seminar Series will host a talk on a parasite affecting the shrimp off Oregon’s coast.  The online event is free and open to all.

The speaker is Reyn Yoshioka, of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), the University of Oregon’s marine station in Charleston.  The topic: “Parasitic pretender: are rhizocephalan-infected shrimp still shrimp?”

Yoshioka is a PhD student based in the Coastal Trophic Ecology Lab at OIMB. He is a marine ecologist interested in invertebrate biodiversity, parasitism, and trophic ecology.  His research focuses on the role parasites and disease play in modifying the trophic ecology of their hosts.

His description of his talk:

“In the parasite world, rhizocephalans are notorious for their pervasive impacts on their crustacean hosts. Pandalid shrimp, which are important prey for other marine species and valuable fisheries along the North American west coast, are infected by the rhizocephalan Sylon sp. In Friday Harbor, Washington, Sylon was found to infect a great proportion of local dock shrimp Pandalus danae. Reyn will share the diverse ways this rhizocephalan changes the biology of dock shrimp, from the epibionts growing on the surface of the shrimp to the fatty acid changes within. These results beg further questions of how this parasite's effects on its host may trickle through food webs, affect local fisheries, and expand our notions of a parasite's role in its ecosystem.”

To virtually attend this seminar, go here. 

Password: 972587 or call +1-971-247-1195 US Meeting ID: 945 5573 1151