HOME | DD
The-Episiarch — Got a weird shrimp in my eye
Published: 2011-04-25 08:25:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 2305; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
I was doing some reading on Lernaeopodidae parasitic copepods and it occurs to me that their pair of arm-like attachment appendages have some very vague resemblance to the anterior appendages of anomalocarids. Thus, this was born - an ectoparasitic anomalocarid inspired by parasites like this ([link] ).The picture depicts a pair of females attached to the eye of their placoderm host. The anterior appendages are deeply embedded within the lens of the eye, which provides an anchor point for the parasite, and allows it to moves its ventral mouth over the eye and graze on the surface of the cornea
The top individual is a newly attached female which has yet to metamorphose into the adult form, whereas the lower individual is a fully mature female. Note the little critter clinging on for dear life at the posterior end of the big mature female - that is a dwarf male - a feature which has commonly evolved in many different species of parasitic crustaceans as well as other animals such as the angler fish.
Related content
Comments: 5
What does the male eat? Does the female secrete a nutrient fluid, or does he suck her blood, or does he occasionally crawl across her and eat bits of the cornea too?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmm, to be honest I haven't really thought about that. However, the organism which provided the inspiration for this piece (parasitic copepods), have a variety of strategies. And so it is open to interpretation as for which strategy this hypothetical parasite adopts.
In some species of copepods, the males become permanently attached to the female (which presumably provides him with nutrient) - rather like angler fishes - while in other species the male mates with the female and then dies. In some of these species where the male mates only once with the female, the male seals the female's vaginal opening with a cement plug to prevent further mating (and thus sperm competition) from other males, though there are also many species where the female can mate repeated with different males throughout her life.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
A non-specified placoderm - though I had Groenlandaspis in mind when I was drawing this, you can substitute it with your favourite (or least favourite) placoderm
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
