A rare discovery: new parasitic species found off Great Barrier Reef
A new parasitic worm species has been discovered by CQUniversity researchers off the southern Great Barrier Reef.
The worm has been found on the gills of the Australian sharpnose shark and the discovery has been officially published in the Journal of Helminthology today.
Lead researcher Dr David Vaughan said the discovery was both significant and exciting.
“This new parasitic worm species (Loimos everinghami) found on the gills, is the first of its kind found in the entire Oceania region,” Dr Vaughan explained.
“This rare worm is one of only six Loimos species that currently exist globally and comes more than 50 years since the last Loimos species discovery in Brazil in 1972.”
Found off the Central Queensland coast, the parasitic worm feeds on the skin and mucus of the gills, where it lives for its entire adult life.
Although a parasite, in normal numbers, the worm does not cause any significant health problems for the shark.
Dr Vaughan said very little was known about the symbiotic organism that relies on sharks for their own survival.
“Sharks are apex predators on the reef and so many food webs involve sharks. An understanding of these obligate relationships provides us with greater knowledge for conservation,” he said.
“The discovery of new species adds to our known biodiversity, which is our shared Australian heritage.
“Information on these helminths is limited so the discovery of this new species is significant and of global interest to those working on parasitic shark worms.”
Dr Vaughan said prior to this discovery he had been looking for loimoids for more than 20 years unsuccessfully.
“Finding this one was wonderful!
“I was beginning to wonder if they existed at all!”
The paper was co-authored by Dr Alejandro Gonzalez (University of Canberra), Dr Nicole Flint (CQUniversity) and Dr Leslie Chisholm (South Australian Museum).
Dr Vaughan is a Senior Lecturer in Biology, Chemistry and Maths at CQU, as well as a fish parasite taxonomist.
The research was conducted under CQUniversity’s School of Access Education, Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) and School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, University of Canberra’s Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics, the South Australian Museum, and University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences.
