Epibiotic suctorians and enigmatic ecto-and endoparasitoid dinoflagellates of euphausiid eggs (Euphausiacea) off Oregon, USA

Abstract

We discovered euphausiid eggs infested with epibiotic suctorian ciliates (Ephelotidae), with ectoparasitoid blastodinian dinoflagellates (Chytriodinium sp.), and infected with unidentified endoparasitoid syndinian-like dinoflagellates. The discovery of two parasitoid protists suggests an unquantified source of embryonic mortality and a potential control on euphausiid larval recruitment rates.