Our new paper on CTmax in parasites in Functional Ecology is out now! "Acute heat tolerance (CTmax) of two invasive parasitic copepods differs across species, life cycle stages and acclimation temperatures" doi.org/10.1111/1365...
David Thieltges
@davidwthieltges.bsky.social
Marine ecologist | Works on marine parasites and diseases, biodiversity patterns, species interactions and biological invasions | Senior scientist at NIOZ Royal Institute for Sea Research | Honorary Professor at RUG University of Groningen
A master manipulator, Schistocephalus solidus uses three hosts - copepods, fish, and birds - to complete its life cycle. By altering the behaviour of infected copepods and fish, it makes them easier prey, boosting its chances of reaching the next host. 🪱🐟🐦 Images: Roman Kuchta
Parasites are evolving fast in the Anthropocene. Drug resistance is well known, but other rapid trait changes often go unnoticed. This warning piece summarizes research and calls for more studies to track, slow, and mitigate rapid parasite evolution 🦠🧬 doi.org/10.1111/eva.70244
This nematode is Romanomermis iyengari, a nematode that DESTROYS mosquitoes from within. 🦟🪱 This worm should be the bluesky shitposter mascot because in the 1970s there was an attempt to develop these worm into a commercial product under the name "Skeeter Doom" 🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Ha...
Mermithid nematodes (Romanomermis iyengari)
YouTube video by RutgersEntomology
youtube.com
The fish louse Argulus coregoni, possibly one of the cutest freshwater parasites there is! This parasitic crustacean lives on freshwater fish where they feed on skin and mucus. Most commonly seen by trout anglers in late summer and autumn. Image: Arnstein Staverløkk Instagram @naturogbilde
New article the WadWeten series (in Dutch) about our recent paper on temperature logger measurements on oyster reefs: lc.nl/friesland/wa...
De schaduw van de oester biedt een koele schuilplaats | WadWeten
Onder oesterriffen blijkt het opvallend koeler dan in de rest van hun omgeving. Dat biedt andere beestjes en schelpdieren mogelijk een schuilplaats tegen de steeds hetere zomers.
lc.nl
What temperatures do intertidal organisms experience on oyster beds in the temperate Wadden Sea? We used biomimetic temperature loggers deployed on two oyster beds for a year to find out. Check our new paper in Marine Environmental Research: doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...
#IMPACT researcher Cyril Hammoud reveals long-term changes in wildlife parasites at the Belgian Society of Parasitology & Protistology Annual meeting. @biodiversa.eu
What is needed to improve our understanding of long-term trends in parasite infection and diversity? Integrating large-scale parasite monitoring programs with existing ecological monitoring projects, plus developing new scalable biomonitoring tools. Read more 👉 doi.org/10.1002/brv.... @biodiversa.eu
Long‐term trends in parasite diversity and infection levels: approaches and patterns
Parasites exist in every ecosystem, affecting nearly all organisms and playing a complex role in human societies. On the one hand, they contribute substantially to biodiversity and support ecosystem ....
doi.org
Juan A. Balbuena@jabalbuena.bsky.social · 8mo agoOur latest paper in Biol Rev. Parasites are vital parts of ecosystems. Because we lack long-term data, we still don't know how human-driven environmental change is affecting their diversity. Better, sustained monitoring is needed. doi.org/10.1002/brv.... @impact-parasites.bsky.social 🧪
Bad Worm Rising: I've written a post about Gordius wulingensis - a white hairworm that lurks in limestone caves and turn camel crickets into living incubators #Invertebrate 🧪 dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/12/gord...
<i>Gordius wulingensis</i>
Horsehair worms are a menace to crickets (as well as mantis , millipedes , and centipedes ) everywhere. Imagine being a cricket going about ...
dailyparasite.blogspot.com
The recently formed IUCN Parasite Specialist Group has just launched a Bluesky account. Give them a follow to get news about the conservation and amazing biology of parasites. Many parasite species are co-endangered with their hosts and need more conservation attention. 🌍🧪🪱
IUCN SSC Parasite Specialist Group@iucnparasites.bsky.social · 11mo agoHello, Bluesky! We're the IUCN SSC Parasite Specialist Group, a part of the Species Survival Commission! We're just starting to understand the important roles parasites play in their ecosystems, and our goal is to determine the threats wildlife parasites face and to conserve rare and unique species!
New Review alert! From obligate to opportunistic #ectoparasites: unlikely heroes of environmental monitoring, authored by Beric Gilbert, Ronnie Mooney & @fionahenriquez.bsky.social. #biomonitoring @uniwestscotland.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/a/1lgsH5Eb1x...
Our Marine Science Communication doc highlights the critical need to strengthen capacity in Europe, develop dedicated training programs, engage in deeper & wider collaboration with stakeholders, & closely interact with @unoceandecade.bsky.social & #MissionOcean: www.marineboard.eu/publications...
Doctoral position on genomic basis of Fucus (brown algal) local adaptation - join our exciting #Fubluc team! Fully funded for 3.5 years & we also consider candidates with strong molecular or bioinformatic skillls but no marine / algal experience, see www.geomar.de/en/karriere/...
HIFMB colleague @thejupiterfour.bsky.social is chairing the session on "Trait-Based Approaches to Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function and Biogeographic Patterns" at the Ocean Sciences Meeting #OSM2026 in Glasgow next year. Want to contribute? Submit your abstract until August 20.
For @biographic.bsky.social, writer @craigwelch.bsky.social followed @hakai.org scientist @rhizalyssa.bsky.social's quest to unveil the the killer that decimated populations of sea stars off the West Coast. It took a few years but the lab's hard work paid off: www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Unmasking the Sea Star Killer
After a decade of carnage, we finally know what’s devastating sea stars along North America’s West Coast. Does that mean scientists can save them?
biographic.com
We are so proud of our sea star wasting work that came out today. This interactive article is very complete and includes beautiful videos. Unmasking the Sea Star Killer www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Unmasking the Sea Star Killer
After a decade of carnage, we finally know what’s devastating sea stars along North America’s West Coast. Does that mean scientists can save them?
biographic.com
Very proud of the work from lab members and collaborators that coincidentally came out today www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... and www.nature.com/articles/s41.... A bacterial and viral pathogen associated with mass mortality in seastars and oysters. @kevinzhong2006.bsky.social @rhizalyssa.bsky.social
Evolutionarily divergent nidovirus with an exceptionally large genome identified in Pacific oysters undergoing mass mortality | PNAS
Metatranscriptomic data from a mass-mortality event of adult Pacific Oysters, Crassostrea (Magallana) gigas, the most widely cultivated shellfish g...
pnas.org
Times Colonist@timescolonist.bsky.social · last yr.Nice to see this joint collaborative effort out now in the August issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment @esajournals.bsky.social Open access doi:10.1002/fee.2849
Some literally amazing research on parasite coextinction and recovery in the kakapo - makes me so happy to see this www.cell.com/current-biol...
Long-term parasite decline associated with near extinction and conservation of the critically endangered kākāpō parrot
Boast et al. analyze a unique fecal record of the endangered kākāpō parrot to reveal >800 years of changing parasite communities. Parasite losses occur during the species’ decline to near extinction a...
cell.com
🧬🐛 What can parasites teach us about food webs? Stable isotope analysis (SIA) as a powerful tool now also in parasitology! Our chapter dives into how SIA and compound-specific SIA (CSIA) reveal what parasites eat and how they impact hosts metabolism and entire food webs. doi.org/10.1007/978-...
Host–Parasite Trophic Interactions as Revealed by Stable Isotope Analyses: Determinants for Trophic and Isotopic Niches of Hosts and Their Associated Parasites
The analysis of stable isotopes (SIA) in organisms, especially those of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N), is a well-established and powerful tool for analysing trophic interactions between free...
doi.org
It's an incredible joy to see former mentees evolve into scientists who surpass me by far. There's no greater pride. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪
Tangled communities: links between predation and parasitism through trophically transmitted digeneans in aquatic communities
Many trophically transmitted digeneans (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) benefit from prey–predator interactions to complete the last step of their life cy…
sciencedirect.com
Hallo artist community, this one is for you! Together with @hanse-ias.bsky.social we are looking for an artist in residence in early 2026. Please share! #artscience #artistinresidence #marinebiodiversity
NEW! 🎉 We need wildlife disease surveillance to predict epidemics, but data sharing is rare - we found that only 2-3% of studies share raw data. So, we spent three years developing a data standard and R package to help get wildlife disease data into FAIR repositories. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Parasite of the Month: #Pthirus #pubis, #pubic #louse, a #blood-feeding #ectoparasite transmitted through close physical/sexual contact, authored by J. Votýpka, J. Bulantová & J. Lukeš @sciencecharles.bsky.social @charlesuni.cuni.cz @czechacademy.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/a/1lIjN5Eb1x...
Our latest newsletter profiles IMPACT's student members. Find out how they contribute to our understanding of parasite biodiversity here 👉 www.nina.no/english/IMPACT
In einem Handbuch geben Wissenschaftler*innen aus den USA und Europa Ratschläge, wie sich Menschen im akademischen Betrieb gegen aufkeimenden Autoritarismus stemmen können – abgestuft nach Risiko-Level. Das ist nicht nur für Forschende lesenswert. netzpolitik.org/2025/anti-au...
Anti-Autokratie-Handbuch: 26 Werkzeuge zur Verteidigung der Demokratie
In einem Handbuch geben Wissenschaftler*innen aus den USA und Europa Ratschläge, wie sich Menschen im akademischen Betrieb gegen aufkeimenden Autoritarismus stemmen können – abgestuft nach Risiko-Leve...
netzpolitik.org
In a synthesis of over 3000 population trends in the Wadden Sea, we show a substantial reorganization of biodiversity with over 38% of populations undergoing significant change (i.e., increases or decreases), identify winners and losers and critical time points of change! dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
Everything you always wanted to know about parasites and stable isotopes in one book chapter: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... From the new #openaccess book on Aquatic Parasitology, edited by @nicojsmit.bsky.social & @berndsures.bsky.social link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Recently published, the new comprehensive guide on Aquatic Parasitology edited by @berndsures.bsky.social and Nico Smit explores the role of aquatic #parasites in freshwater and #marineecosystems – for the first time on a global scale: www.uni-due.de/2025-06-11-t... #UDE
