Epibionts as biological indicators of cetaceans and sea turtles: a multidisciplinary approach

• Autores: Sofia Ten Gonzalez
• Directores de la Tesis: Francisco Javier Aznar Avendaño (dir. tes.), Juan Antonio Raga Esteve (codir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat de València ( España ) en 2024
• Idioma: español
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Kristina Lehnert (presid.), Juan Antonio Balbuena Diaz-Pines (secret.), Nathan Jack Robinson (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva por la Universitat de València (Estudi General)
• Menciones:
  • Internacional
• Calificación: Sobresaliente Cum Laude
• Materias:
  • Ciencias de la vida
    • Biología animal (zoología)
      • Ecología animal
      • Parasitología animal
      • Zoología marina
    • Simbiosis
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
• Resumen

  • Epibionts are sessile organisms that live on other living organisms. Animal epibionts, or epizoites, have proven to be valuable indicators of their hosts (or basibionts). This thesis studies the epifauna of cetaceans and sea turtles as indicators of their hosts' biology, providing a methodological framework that can be used in other systems. A comprehensive catalog of all epizoic species reported on cetaceans and their indicator uses was performed. The other chapters investigate the potential of epibiotic crustaceans as indicators of cetaceans and sea turtles, inferring information on hosts' hydrodynamics and swimming, habitat use, interoceanic dispersal, health and forensics, and epidemiology. The results of this thesis highlight the importance of epibionts, not only as living creatures per se, but also as valuable indicators of their emblematic cetacean and sea turtle basibionts. We therefore encourage researchers to provide qualitative and quantitative data (i.e., presence/absence, prevalence, abundance) on the epizoites they find on cetaceans and sea turtles, and also to investigate several aspects of the biology of epibionts, such as growth rates, to improve their application as indicators. The inferences withdrawn from these indicators can assist conservation plans of both basibionts and their epizoites.