ИСТИНА

Ascothoracida encompasses exclusively true parasitic crustaceans, ranging from ecto- and meso- to endoparasites found on cnidarians and echinoderms. Most of the studies of Ascothoracida are taxonomic and focus relatively little on their trophic ecology and host relationships. In this study, we used stable isotope analysis (SIA) of carbon and nitrogen and morphological analysis to study the trophic relationship between the ascothoracidans (genera Baccalaureus, Petrarca, Sessilogoga, and Zibrowia) and their coral hosts (antipatharians, scleractinians, and zoantharians) collected from Taiwan and Malaysia. The SIA suggests that the Petrarca and Zibrowia parasites feed directly on their hosts (scleractinians). The vagile Sessilogoga may use antipatharian tissues for food directly as well as sucks food fluids from the host’s gastrovascular system. There is no clear trend of trophic shift between the zoantharian host and its respective parasite (Baccalaureus). Such differences exclude the possibility of the parasite feeding predominantly on its host’s tissues and suggest a broad spectrum of food sources.