Do sharks have parasites?

Everything has parasites, well, nearly everything. Parasites exist on nearly every organism and in nearly every environment. A parasite is (loosely defined) any organism that takes food or derives a benefit from another organism. read more

The Remora is a type of fish that attaches to sharks and derives a benefit by cleaning the shark of parasites (copepods) that live and grow on the outside of the shark. The copepods often cause blindness in the shark and are often found inside the mouth and in the gills. Internally sharks have tapeworms and round worms. read more

However, there is one pestilence that even sharks cannot evade: parasites. Like many other large seagoing animals, a shark’s body often sustains an entire community of parasitic organisms by serving as a habitat, a food source, and even as a dinner plate. read more

While copepod parasites are occasionally noted from the eyes of other species of sharks (while diving off San Diego, I have personally seen a pandarid copepod attached to the left eye of a free-swimming subadult Shortfin Mako, Isurus oxyrinchus), in no other species is their occurrence as regular or as well documented as O. elongta noshing on on the corneas of the Greenland Shark, so this is very probably the symbiotic relationship to which your friend was referring. read more

However, there is one pestilence that even sharks cannot evade: parasites. Like many other large seagoing animals, a shark’s body often sustains an entire community of parasitic organisms by serving as a habitat, a food source, and even as a dinner plate. read more