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Research Article
Under pressure: the extraordinary survival of seal lice in the deep sea
Maria Soledad Leonardi, José E. Crespo, Florencia A. Soto, Ricardo B. Vera, Julio C. Rua, Claudio R. Lazzari
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb226811 doi: 10.1242/jeb.226811 Published 9 September 2020
Maria Soledad Leonardi
1IBIOMAR-CONICET, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
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  • ORCID record for Maria Soledad Leonardi
José E. Crespo
2CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución (IEGEBA), Ciudad Universitaria, C1428EGA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Florencia A. Soto
1IBIOMAR-CONICET, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
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Ricardo B. Vera
3CCT CONICET-CENPAT, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
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Julio C. Rua
3CCT CONICET-CENPAT, U9120ACD, Puerto Madryn, Argentina
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Claudio R. Lazzari
4Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261 – University of Tours, 37200 Tours, France
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  • For correspondence: claudio.lazzari@univ-tours.fr
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ABSTRACT

Lice from pinnipeds – sea lions, seals and walruses – are the only insects capable of surviving marine dives. Throughout their evolutionary history, they have adapted to tolerate hypoxia, high salinity, low temperature and, in particular, to tolerate conditions of high hydrostatic pressure. To understand the limits of the capacity of lice to survive during host deep dives, we conducted a series of controlled experiments in the laboratory. We collected lice from elephant seals and submitted the different life stages to high pressure conditions. Lice were first exposed to one of four hydrostatic pressures: 30, 80, 150 or 200 kg cm−2. They were then exposed a second time to higher or lower hydrostatic pressure conditions to test for the impact of the first experience, which could either be deleterious or trigger physiological adaption, allowing them a better tolerance to high pressure. We found that lice from elephant seals can tolerate hydrostatic pressures higher than 200 kg cm−2 (close to 200 atm), which is equivalent to 2000 m depth. Adults exhibited lower recovery times than nymphs after immersion at high hydrostatic pressure. Our findings show that lice have developed unique adaptations to endure extreme marine conditions. We discuss these extreme performances in relation to the morphological characteristics and physiological responses to diving in these insects.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    Conceptualization: M.S.L., J.E.C., C.R.L.; Methodology: M.S.L., J.E.C., F.A.S., R.B.V., J.C.R.; Formal analysis: J.E.C., C.R.L.; Investigation: M.S.L., F.A.S., R.B.V., J.C.R.; Data curation: J.E.C.; Writing - original draft: M.S.L., J.E.C., C.R.L.; Writing - review & editing: M.S.L., J.E.C., C.R.L.; Supervision: M.S.L., C.R.L.; Funding acquisition: M.S.L.

  • Funding

    This research was funded by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (PICT 2015-0082 and PICT 2018-0537) and the Lerner-Grey Fund for Marine Research.

  • Data availability

    The rough data and the R script are available from Mendeley: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/zm4c4y4yz5.1

  • Received April 15, 2020.
  • Accepted July 14, 2020.
  • © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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Keywords

  • Marine insects
  • Diving adaptations
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Research Article
Under pressure: the extraordinary survival of seal lice in the deep sea
Maria Soledad Leonardi, José E. Crespo, Florencia A. Soto, Ricardo B. Vera, Julio C. Rua, Claudio R. Lazzari
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb226811 doi: 10.1242/jeb.226811 Published 9 September 2020
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Research Article
Under pressure: the extraordinary survival of seal lice in the deep sea
Maria Soledad Leonardi, José E. Crespo, Florencia A. Soto, Ricardo B. Vera, Julio C. Rua, Claudio R. Lazzari
Journal of Experimental Biology 2020 223: jeb226811 doi: 10.1242/jeb.226811 Published 9 September 2020

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