Asymmetric exploitation of two echinoid host species by a parasitic pea crab and its consequences for the parasitic life cycle.

The article presents a study on the asymmetric parasitism hypothesis in parasitic pea crab Dissodactylus primitivus on its two host species such as Meoma ventricosa and Plagiobrissus grandis, collected through Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) diving from the Discovery Bay lagoon, north coast of Jamaica. It states that the host choice experiments manifest that juvenile and adult pea crabs were capable of settling on the two hosts. It mentions that the results manifest no significant difference on the adult crab characteristics between the two hosts but the female crabs settling on P. grandis establish higher fecundity. Results show that the adult parasites infecting the hosts manifest different relative fitnesses in the asymmetric life cycle.