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Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake

Nupur Kale, Lulah Quinn, Ahmed Fouad, Graeme C. Hays Orcid Logo, Kimberley Stokes, Nicole Esteban Orcid Logo

Marine Biology, Volume: 172, Issue: 12

Swansea University Authors: Nupur Kale, Lulah Quinn, Kimberley Stokes, Nicole Esteban Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s00227-025-04741-1

Abstract

Determining the energetic and fitness trade-offs associated with symbiotic relationships (mutualism, commensalism or parasitism) can reveal the implications of symbiosis for species and ecosystem health. To identify hitchhiker impact on sea turtles, this study reviewed global literature and examined...

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Published in: Marine Biology
ISSN: 0025-3162 1432-1793
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70527
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spelling 2025-11-03T11:42:17.9200546 v2 70527 2025-09-29 Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake c9cbb132a044e02a2f43333dfa5815f1 Nupur Kale Nupur Kale true false c6cfae13001ab6c1ea7c7128d4d5a3e5 Lulah Quinn Lulah Quinn true false 9ae3c7349402163dc0fbfe2e6dcd4dae Kimberley Stokes Kimberley Stokes true false fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319 0000-0003-4693-7221 Nicole Esteban Nicole Esteban true false 2025-09-29 Determining the energetic and fitness trade-offs associated with symbiotic relationships (mutualism, commensalism or parasitism) can reveal the implications of symbiosis for species and ecosystem health. To identify hitchhiker impact on sea turtles, this study reviewed global literature and examined the association between remoras (Echeneis naucrates) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at a high-density foraging site in the Red Sea using SCUBA and video (n = 71 observations) in October 2023. Previous evidence of remora-sea turtle association is limited to qualitative observations from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The results show that depth significantly impacted the number of remoras per turtle (p < 0.05). Turtle grazing rate was affected by remora load (p < 0.05), decreasing by ~ 30% across the load range from a mean of 22.8 bites min−1 (0 remoras) to 15.6 bites min−1 (3 remoras). There was little evidence of benefit to turtles, with only one observation of a remora cleaning a turtle carapace. The observed reduction in grazing effort suggests potential impacts on green turtle body condition over time, which may affect growth, reproduction, and population health, warranting long-term investigation. These findings present the first quantitative evidence that the remora-sea turtle relationship shifts from commensalism to parasitism as remora load increases, demonstrating the potential costs of hitchhikers for sea turtles. Journal Article Marine Biology 172 12 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 0025-3162 1432-1793 Epibionts; Interspecific; Live sharksucker; Marine turtles; Phoresis; Suckerfish 31 10 2025 2025-10-31 10.1007/s00227-025-04741-1 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) This work was supported by the Bertarelli Foundation as part of the Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science (grant number 820633). 2025-11-03T11:42:17.9200546 2025-09-29T12:12:22.0498200 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Nupur Kale 1 Lulah Quinn 2 Ahmed Fouad 3 Graeme C. Hays 0000-0002-3314-8189 4 Kimberley Stokes 5 Nicole Esteban 0000-0003-4693-7221 6 70527__35540__44205f12e6334dcd95ac554e2744908d.pdf 70527.VoR.pdf 2025-11-03T11:40:40.3546845 Output 1855969 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
spellingShingle Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
Nupur Kale
Lulah Quinn
Kimberley Stokes
Nicole Esteban
title_short Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
title_full Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
title_fullStr Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
title_full_unstemmed Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
title_sort Impact of marine hitchhiker load on host energy intake
author_id_str_mv c9cbb132a044e02a2f43333dfa5815f1
c6cfae13001ab6c1ea7c7128d4d5a3e5
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fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319
author_id_fullname_str_mv c9cbb132a044e02a2f43333dfa5815f1_***_Nupur Kale
c6cfae13001ab6c1ea7c7128d4d5a3e5_***_Lulah Quinn
9ae3c7349402163dc0fbfe2e6dcd4dae_***_Kimberley Stokes
fb2e760b83b4580e7445092982f1f319_***_Nicole Esteban
author Nupur Kale
Lulah Quinn
Kimberley Stokes
Nicole Esteban
author2 Nupur Kale
Lulah Quinn
Ahmed Fouad
Graeme C. Hays
Kimberley Stokes
Nicole Esteban
format Journal article
container_title Marine Biology
container_volume 172
container_issue 12
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0025-3162
1432-1793
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s00227-025-04741-1
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
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description Determining the energetic and fitness trade-offs associated with symbiotic relationships (mutualism, commensalism or parasitism) can reveal the implications of symbiosis for species and ecosystem health. To identify hitchhiker impact on sea turtles, this study reviewed global literature and examined the association between remoras (Echeneis naucrates) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at a high-density foraging site in the Red Sea using SCUBA and video (n = 71 observations) in October 2023. Previous evidence of remora-sea turtle association is limited to qualitative observations from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The results show that depth significantly impacted the number of remoras per turtle (p < 0.05). Turtle grazing rate was affected by remora load (p < 0.05), decreasing by ~ 30% across the load range from a mean of 22.8 bites min−1 (0 remoras) to 15.6 bites min−1 (3 remoras). There was little evidence of benefit to turtles, with only one observation of a remora cleaning a turtle carapace. The observed reduction in grazing effort suggests potential impacts on green turtle body condition over time, which may affect growth, reproduction, and population health, warranting long-term investigation. These findings present the first quantitative evidence that the remora-sea turtle relationship shifts from commensalism to parasitism as remora load increases, demonstrating the potential costs of hitchhikers for sea turtles.
published_date 2025-10-31T12:40:52Z
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