A rolling rock gathers no worms

Klamath River Annelid Hosts of Salmon Parasites: Tiny Friends with Tiny Enemies

  • Meet Manayunkia occidentalis (or “Mo”), the source of the stage of C. shasta that is infectious for salmon. Rather, meet about 1000 of them. If you look closely in, you can see their little tentacles and palps- these feather-like appendages collect food and help them breathe.
    We use a modified Hess sampler to collect benthic samples- the sediment ends up in 500 mL nalgene bottles. The samples are then preserved in alcohol and brought back to the laboratory, where we (thankfully) have a team of students who help sort and process them.
    Looking for the elusive annelid hosts of Ceratonova shasta involves SCUBA diving. It can be sort of dark and creepy in the deep eddy habitats, but it is great worm habitat.

Got questions? Need help identifying aquatic worms?

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