Parasitism On Graptoloid Graptolites |
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| Authors: | Denis E. B. Bates,& David K. Loydell |
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| Affiliation: | Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK,;School of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | graptoloids parasitism functioning hydrodynamics buoyancy |
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