Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
 
 
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Discovery Lecture Series

 
 
Friday, April 5, 2024
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

WHALE LICE: A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME HITCHHIKING CRUSTACEANS
Dr. Todd Haney, Sage Hill School

Crustaceans of the order Amphipoda are ubiquitous in the marine realm, and include some species that occur in freshwater and terrestrial environments. With more than 6,000 named species, the alpha- diversity of this one crustacean lineage exceeds that of the mammals. Among the amphipods, members of the family Cyamidae have a particularly interesting ecology; they live in obligate symbiotic associations with whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Given their particular niche, cyamids are more commonly referred to as whale lice. More than two dozen species of whale lice have been described, each of which lives exclusively on the surface of one or more cetacean hosts. Learn about the ecology of whale lice, as well as their unique morphology and what such evidence suggests about cyamid phylogeny. Additionally, patterns of relationships among the whale lice are compared to current phylogenetic hypotheses for their cetacean hosts.

Dr. Todd Haney began his studies of marine invertebrates as an undergraduate at Northern Arizona University, where regular trips for fieldwork in the northern Sea of Cortez fostered his interest in the diversity of Crustacea. He completed a phylogenetic analysis of the whale-lice (family Cyamidae) for a master’s degree in marine science at the University of Charleston, South Carolina, and then continued in crustacean systematics for his doctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, Dr. Haney is an instructor of life and environmental sciences at Sage Hill School, an independent school in Newport Coast, California, where he has been teaching since 2005.

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