I've got you under my skin: inflammatory response to elephant seal's lice

LEONARDI, M. S.; C. KRMPOTIC; C. BARBEITO; F. SOTO; C.M. LOZA; R. VERA; J. NEGRETE

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2021 vol. 35 p. 658 - 662

0269-283X

Seals (Phocidae) undergo an annual cycle of molting that implies hair regeneration. Extraordinarily, in Monachine seals, this process also involves the more superficial strata of the epidermis. Therefore, surviving the molting period is crucial for their obligate and permanent ectoparasites. Sucking lice belonging to the family Echinophtiriidae have the particularity of living on marine carnivores, and alternate short periods on land with long periods on the open sea. Throughout evolutionary time, these lice have developed morphological, behavioral, and ecological adaptations to cope with the amphibious lifestyle of their hosts. Exceptionally, Lepidophthirus macrorhini, the Southern elephant seal (SES) louse species, faces the additional challenge of surviving attached to the host during the molting period. Since lice live on the skin, L. macrorhini has developed a unique survival strategy. These lice pierce the skin of their host, thus keeping them protected from molting. During the fieldwork in Patagonia and Antarctica, skin samples were collected with lice and with the wound after their removal for histological analysis. We performed histological sections to assess whether these parasites caused damage to the host. Our results demonstrate that lice generate an inflammatory process in the host´s dermis. These lesions could alter the normal chemical and mechanical protective properties of the skin and facilitate secondary fungal or bacterial infections. We consider that further studies that analyze the potential pathogens in the skin lesions produced by lice are necessary to properly assess the real impact of these ectoparasites on their host health.