Long-term trends of epibionts reflect Mediterranean striped dolphin abundance shifts caused by virus epidemics

Virus-induced shifts in striped dolphin population dynamics have cascading effects on the population abundance of epibionts X. globicipitis and S. aequus, whereas the population of the less host-specific P. balaenoptera was unaffected. Together, long-term trends in the occurrence of host-specific epibionts can serve as an indicator of host abundance shifts.

Ten S, Dupont G, Raga JA, Dobson AP, Aznar FJ. Long-term trends of epibionts reflect Mediterranean striped dolphin abundance shifts caused by morbillivirus epidemics. J Anim Ecol. 2026 Feb 6. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.70216.