Abstract

Udonella australis is a platyhelminth that lives on the surface of the ectoparasite copepods Caligus rogercresseyi and Lepeophtheirus mugiloidis, which coexist on the Chilean rock cod Eleginops maclovinus. The absence of a planktonic oncomiracidium stage in the life cycle of udonellids may limit their dispersal ability. However, the high prevalence and intensity of U. australis on C. rogercresseyi suggest they have developed dispersal strategies to compensate for the lack of a free-living larval stage. The goals of this study were to determine the main dispersal mechanisms of U. australis in 1 copepod species and to compare the dispersal ability of U. australis between 2 different copepod species. Chilean rock cods were infected with female (without udonellids) and male (with and without udonellids) C. rogercresseyi. Other fishes were also infected with this copepod (with U. australis) and with L. mugiloidis (without U. australis). The dispersal of udonellids among copepods occurs through both intraspecific and interspecific processes. The main dispersal mechanism appears to be copepod mating; contact between same-sex individuals is less important. Intraspecific dispersal seems to be more dependent on the number of udonellids per fish than on copepod abundance, as observed for interspecific dispersal. © American Society of Parasitologists 2007.