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2 September 2021 Parasitism-Induced Intersexuality in a Sexually Dimorphic Varunid Crab, Ptychognathus ishii (Decapoda: Varunidae)
Naoto Inui, Kohei Oguchi, Junpei Shinji, Masanori Okanishi, Michitaka Shimomura, Toru Miura
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Abstract

Although many animals that perform sexual reproduction exhibit sexual dimorphism, individuals with intersex traits between the traits of males and females appear in some species, depending on environmental factors. Ptychognathus ishii, a varunid crab, exhibits distinctive sexual dimorphism in the morphology of its abdomen, chelipeds and setal tufts on the chelipeds. In this study, however, we report for the first time that intersex individuals with intermediate characters between those of males and females were occasionally found in wild populations. Morphological features of intersex individuals are described. Their taxonomic positions are identified based on DNA sequences of part of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. It was shown that the intersexuality was induced by entoniscid parasites, because all intersex individuals were parasitized by entoniscid isopods, identified as Entionella sp. The apparent correlation between parasitism and morphological anomalies suggests that the parasitic isopods affect physiological conditions, leading to the feminization of male hosts.

© 2021 Zoological Society of Japan
Naoto Inui, Kohei Oguchi, Junpei Shinji, Masanori Okanishi, Michitaka Shimomura, and Toru Miura "Parasitism-Induced Intersexuality in a Sexually Dimorphic Varunid Crab, Ptychognathus ishii (Decapoda: Varunidae)," Zoological Science 38(5), 416-426, (2 September 2021). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs210049
Received: 12 May 2021; Accepted: 11 July 2021; Published: 2 September 2021
KEYWORDS
feminization
intersexuality
morphology
parasitic castration
sexual dimorphism
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