[Coral-List] Risk of coextinction in coral reefs

[Jean-Lou JUSTINE]

Dear coral-listers,

Coextinction in coral reefs is rarely mentioned.
In simple words, coextinction means that as a host species becomes extinct,
so does one or more species of parasites.
Although parasites are generally not considered charismatic animals, they
play a major role in the ecology and evolution of their hosts and are an
indispensable component of ecosystems, including, of course, coral reefs.

I am writing to bring your attention to a recent paper we have published. It
may be of interest to all who are interested in conservation of coral reefs.
Our main result is that if a fish disappears, at least 10 species of
parasites will also disappear. This is the first detailed evaluation of the
coextinction ratio in coral reefs.

This is an open access paper, already classified as “highly accessed” by the
publisher, BioMed Central.
Justine, J.-L., Beveridge, I., Boxshall, G. A., Bray, R. A., Miller, T. L.,
Moravec, F., Trilles, J.-P. & Whittington, I. D. 2012: An annotated list of
fish parasites (Isopoda, Copepoda, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda, Nematoda)
collected from Snappers and Bream (Lutjanidae, Nemipteridae, Caesionidae) in
New Caledonia confirms high parasite biodiversity on coral reef fish.
Aquatic Biosystems, 8, 22.
Abstract and PDF: http://www.aquaticbiosystems.org/content/8/1/22/abstract
or (short link): http://t.co/ZSwzvT0w

For other papers on biodiversity of parasites of coral reef fish, all open
access: http://bit.ly/VkZgSW

Our institutions produced various press releases about this paper. In
addition to the paper, you might like to read the press releases, which are
often easier to read than the paper itself:
In English http://bit.ly/PjNkA0, in French  http://bit.ly/SbSeQq, and
even... In Czech http://bit.ly/PHbW3O

Yours,
Jean-Lou


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 Pr. Jean-Lou JUSTINE
 UMR 7138 Systematique, Adaptation, Evolution
 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
 CP 51, 55 rue Buffon
 75231 Paris cedex 05, France
 
 Telephone: 01 71 21 46 47   (+33 1 71 21 46 47)
 e-mail: justine at mnhn.fr 

 Home page:
 http://sites.google.com/site/jljjustine/

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