202310Month14Sun ~15Japan Society of Crustaceology No.61The conference was held at our university, and Shintaku Morishita, a graduate student at our university, received the Excellent Oral Presentation Award.This award is given to young researchers (35This award is given to outstanding presentations by students (age and under).

【Winner】
Shintaku Morishita (Graduate School of Marine Science and Technology, Department of Marine Resources and Environmental Studies, Master's Program)1Year)

[Title of award-winning research]
Research on the relationship between body color of planiza larvae of the Somewake sea stag beetle and host fish species

[Details of award-winning research]
Sea stag beetles are small crustaceans that belong to the order Isopoda.During the larval stage, it parasitizes a variety of fish and sucks blood, and it is known that the body takes on a variety of colors after sucking blood.In this study, in order to clarify how this body color changes depending on the host it parasitizes, we conducted parasitism experiments in aquariums and host identification experiments using DNA.As a result, we found that the body color of a sea stag beetle changes when the body color of the fish is different, that individuals with a specific body color change color over time, and that even when parasitizing the same fish species, the body color differs depending on the part of the body it infests. We discovered that individuals exhibiting a blue color may be affected by biliverdin derived from the host.

<Related links>
Japanese Crustacean Society