Diseases of Aquatic Organisms
DAO is a hybrid research journal on all aspects of disease phenomena in aquatic organisms.
Impact Factor1.2 (JCR 2025 release)
Article Acceptance Rate47.2% (2024)
Average Time in Review183 days (2024)
Total Annual Downloads580.621 (2025)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao01949
copiedEmerging infectious disease in sea stars: castrating ciliate parasites in Patiria miniata
ABSTRACT: Orchitophrya stellarum is a holotrich ciliate that facultatively parasitizes and castrates male asteriid sea stars. We discovered a morphologically similar ciliate in testes of an asterinid sea star, the northeastern Pacific bat star Patiria miniata (Brandt, 1835). This parasite may represent a threat to Canadian populations of this iconic sea star. Confirmation that the parasite is O. stellarum would indicate a considerable host range expansion, and suggest that O. stellarum is a generalist sea star pathogen.