Ceratothoa steindachneri
On the 10 th of August Paul Chambers was part of a party of recreational anglers at Les Minquiers when he caught a lesser weever fish Echiichthys vipera (The word weever is believed to derive from the old French word “wivre”, meaning serpent or dragon from the Latin “vipera”). On returning to Jersey Paul discovered a large (1.8cm) isopod with his catch and at first glance thought it was Anilocra frontalis but after some research and finding a Victorian article he came across a paper by Tammy Horton ” on Ceratothoa steindachneri new to British waters he was able to confirm that it was this species and it was reported locally on the BBC and attracted national media attention.
The isopod (iso = same, pod = foot) is one of 4,500 of the species found in the marine environment, this one is a parasite which in this case attaches to its prefered host the weever fish, most notably on the tounge which it eventually replaces.
Family Cymothoidae Ceratothoa steindachneri (Koelbel 1879) was first noted in British waters in 1996. Findings by the Marine Biological Association were published in a news article on page in the March issue, 2001, where it mentions the discovery of a breeding population at Whitsands Bay, Cornwall, and that the species was also recorded at Sennen and Perran Bay.
Why should this more southerly species now being found here?
This is open to conjecture: Global warming and rising sea temperatures, or they hitched a ride on a north bound vessel, or just a natural progression and adaptaion of the species, or just an alert and informed section member noting something others may have missed, or that the parasite is a host of a very unpopular fish (unless in a Bouillabaise!) that gives a venomous sting may also have something to do with the lack of records of it.
Photograph and initial report supplied by Paul Chambers section secretary.
