Red Tides Stemmed by 'Alien'-Like Parasites
By Matt J. Weiss, November 24, 2008 @ 02:00 AM (EST)
Source: Discovery.com
For the first time ever, marine biologists have tracked the control of red tides
to a virulent parasite with a gruesome lifestyle not entirely unlike
those in the movie "Aliens." It's powerful new evidence that toxic red tides seen in coastal waters can be controlled by more than just other microscopic beasties eating them.
"If these observations can be extended to other ecosystems, then red tides will be less unpredictable, at least we will understand better their natural regulations," said researcher Laure Guillou of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. Guillou is a coauthor of a paper on the discovery in the Nov. 21 issue of Science.
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