What can ectoparasites tell us about apex marine predators? A marlin’s story

Marlin are one of the most iconic and important species to recreational anglers. Despite substantial research effort, very little is understood about their movements and behaviour, mainly due to their pelagic lifestyles and their broad distributions at the scale of ocean basins. Marlin are host to diverse communities of ectoparasites, which have the potential to be used to answer many fundamental questions about these species. By assessing the characteristics of ectoparasites inhabiting marlin and comparing these to characteristics of their hosts, this research uses ectoparasitic traits to identify marlin diet and movement.