ИСТИНА

One of the rewarding outcomes of the IWOSC4 (International Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda) organized at the WSBS of MSU in 2019 was the opportunity to initiate a collaborative research project bringing together scientists from SPSU, MSU and NHM (London). Present and future collaborative efforts (will) involve the multidisciplinary study of an enigmatic parasitic crustacean (Copepoda: Chitonophilidae) inhabiting the body cavity of common marine snails (e.g. Buccinum undatum Linnaeus, 1785) in the White Sea. The new discovery is morphologically similar to a gastropod parasite previously reported only from the UK and which was the subject of a detailed study by one of us (RH). Chitonophilids exhibit a complex life cycle comprising a nauplius, metanauplius, infective copepodid and unsegmented adults. The endoparasitic female is highly transformed morphologically and derives its nutrients from the host through an elaborate rootlet system. Molecularly based comparison with 18S gene sequences of previously described species of Chitonophilidae revealed that the White Sea parasite probably represents an as yet undescribed genus. Its morphological description will be combined with our future study of its development, host-parasite interactions and additional phylogenetic analyses.