Sacculina
| Sacculina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sacculina carcini (highlighted) attached to a female Liocarcinus holsatus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Maxillopoda |
| Order: | Cirripedia |
| Family: | Sacculinidae |
| Genus: | Sacculina Thompson, 1836 |
| Type species | |
| Sacculina carcini Thompson, 1836 [1] | |
Sacculina is a genus of barnacles that is a parasitic castrator of crabs. The adults bear no resemblance to the barnacles that cover ships and piers; they are recognised as barnacles because their larval forms are like other members of the barnacle class Cirripedia. Depending on the location, the prevalence of this unusual crustacean parasite in its crab host can be as high as 50%.[2]
Life cycle
The female Sacculina larva finds a crab and walks on it until it finds a joint. It then molts into a form called a kentrogon, which injects its soft body into the crab while its shell falls off. The Sacculina grows in the crab, emerging as a sac, known as an externa, on the underside of the crab's rear thorax, where the crab's eggs would be incubated.
After this invasion of the Sacculina, the crab is now unable to perform the normal function of molting. This results in a loss of nutrition for the crab, and impairs its overall growth. The natural ability of regrowing a severed claw that is commonly used for defense purposes is therefore lost after the infestation of Sacculina.
The male Sacculina looks for a female Sacculina adult on the underside of a crab. He then implants himself into her body and starts fertilizing her eggs. The crab (male or female) then cares for the eggs as if they were its own, having been rendered infertile by the parasite.
When a female Sacculina is implanted in a male crab it will interfere with the crab's hormonal balance. This sterilizes it and changes the bodily layout of the crab to resemble that of a female crab by widening and flattening its abdomen, among other things. The female Sacculina then forces the crab's body to release hormones, causing it to act like a female crab, even to the point of performing female mating dances.
Although all energy otherwise expended on reproduction is directed to the Sacculina, the crab develops a nurturing behavior typical of a female crab. The natural hatching process of a crab consists of the female finding a high rock and grooming its brood pouch on its abdomen and releasing the fertilized eggs in the water through a bobbing motion. The female crab stirs the water with her claw to aid the flow of the water. When the hatching parasite eggs of the Sacculina are ready to emerge from the brood pouch of Sacculina, the crab performs a similar process. The crab shoots them out through pulses creating a large cloud of parasites. The crab then uses the familiar technique of stirring the water to aid in flow.[3]
Biological Control Agents
Sacculina has been suggested to be used as a type of biological control agent to help reduce the populations of the invasive Green Cab. This is controversial because the Sacculina can also use native crab species as their host.[4]
Species
More than 100 species of Sacculina are currently recognised:[5]
- Sacculina abyssicola
- Sacculina actaeae Guérin-Gavinet, 1911
- Sacculina aculeata Boschma, 1928
- Sacculina ales Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina americana Reinhard, 1955
- Sacculina amplituba Phillips, 1978
- Sacculina anceps Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina angulata Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina anomala Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina atlantica Boschma, 1927
- Sacculina beauforti Boschma
- Sacculina bicuspidata Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina bipunctata Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina boschmai Reinhard, 1955
- Sacculina bourdoni Boschma, 1960
- Sacculina brevispina Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina bucculenta Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina caelata Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina calappae Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina calva Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina captiva Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina carcini Thompson, 1836
- Sacculina carpiliae Guérin-Gavinet, 1911
- Sacculina cartieri Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina cavolinii Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina comosa Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina compressa Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina confragosa Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina cordata Shiino, 1943
- Sacculina curvata Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina dayi Boschma, 1958
- Sacculina duracina Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina echinulata Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina elongata Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina eriphiae Smith, 1906
- Sacculina exarcuata Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina flacca Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina flexuosa Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina gerbei Giard in Bonnier, 1887
- Sacculina ghanensis Boschma, 1971
- Sacculina gibba Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina gibbsi (Hesse, 1867)
- Sacculina glabra Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina globularis Boschma, 1970
- Sacculina gonoplaxae Guérin-Gavinet, 1911
- Sacculina gordonae Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina gracilis Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina granifera Boschma, 1973
- Sacculina granulosa Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina guineensis Boschma, 1971
- Sacculina herbstiae Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina hirsuta Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina hirta Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina hispida Boschma, 1928
- Sacculina hystrix Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina imberbis Shiino
- Sacculina inconstans Boschma, 1952
- Sacculina infirma Boschma, 1953
- Sacculina inflata Leuckart, 1859
- Sacculina insueta Boschma
- Sacculina irrorata Boschma, 1934
- Sacculina lata Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina leopoldi Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina leptodiae Guérin-Gavinet, 1911
- Sacculina leptothrix Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina lobata Boschma, 1965
- Sacculina loricata Boschma, 1955
- Sacculina margaritifera Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina micracantha Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina microthrix Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina muricata Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina nectocarcini Gurney, Rybakov, Høeg & Kuris, 2006
- Sacculina nigra Shiino
- Sacculina nodosa Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina oblonga Lützen & Yamaguchi, 1999
- Sacculina ornatula Boschma, 1951
- Sacculina papposa Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina pertenuis Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina phacelothrix Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina pilosa Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina pilosella Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina pisiformis Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina pistillata Boschma, 1952
- Sacculina pomum Kossmann, 1872
- Sacculina pugettiae Shiino, 1943
- Sacculina pulchella Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina punctata Boschma, 1934
- Sacculina pustulata Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina rathbunae Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina reinhardi Boschma, 1955
- Sacculina reniformis Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina robusta Boschma
- Sacculina rotundata Miers, 1880
- Sacculina rugosa Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina scabra Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina schmitti Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina semistriata Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina senta Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina serenei Boschma, 1954
- Sacculina setosa Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina sinensis Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina spectabilis Boschma, 1948
- Sacculina spinosa Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina striata Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina sulcata Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina teres Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina teretiuscula Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina ternatensis Boschma, 1950
- Sacculina tessellata Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina triangularis Anderson, 1862
- Sacculina vankampeni Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina verrucosa Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925
- Sacculina vieta Boschma, 1933
- Sacculina weberi Boschma, 1931
- Sacculina yatsui Boschma, 1936
- Sacculina zariquieyi Boschma, 1947
References
- ↑ H. Boschma (1955). "The described species of the family Sacculinidae" (PDF). Zoologische Verhandelingen. 27 (1): 1–76.
- ↑ Ross Piper (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-33922-8
- ↑ Carl Zimmer (2000), Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures, Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-0011-X
- ↑ "The Parasitic Sacculina That Bends Its Host to Its Own Will". Today I Found Out. 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ↑ Geoff Boxshall (2012). "Sacculina Thompson, 1836". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Sacculina |
- Zimmer, Carl (August 2000). "Do Parasites Rule the World?". Discover.