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Parasitism On Graptoloid Graptolites
Author(s) -
Bates Denis E. B.,
Loydell David K.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4983.00164
Subject(s) - parasitism , paleontology , buoyancy , geology , biology , ecology , physics , mechanics , host (biology)
A review of evidence for parasitism on graptoloid graptolites is presented. The phenomenon is rare, having been recorded in only a few biserial forms and straight monograptids. Most periderm outgrowths secreted as a response to parasitism are small and blister‐like, but in two new specimens remarkable tubular outgrowths occur. These would have had a detrimental, but clearly not fatal, influence on the functioning of these graptolites, particularly with regard to the hydrodynamics and buoyancy of the rhabdosome and the energy expended in secreting additional periderm.