Lingcod Parasite Burden and Color Morphology Across 26 Degrees of Latitude

Parasitological data from 89 lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) individuals dissected to study associations between blue color polymorphism and parasite burden. The dataset likely contains measurements of parasite counts, sex, color morph, and hepatosomatic index for fish collected from Alaska, Washington, and California. Chelsea L. Wood from the University of Washington authored the associated research paper.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between parasite burden and color morph based on sex and location data mentioned in the description
• Investigating correlations between hepatosomatic index (relative liver weight) and color polymorphism described in the study
• Analyzing sex-specific differences in parasite infection rates linked to blue coloration
• Exploring latitudinal gradients in parasitism across the 26-degree sampling range from Alaska to California

Strengths

• Data is derived from direct parasitological dissection of 89 individual fish
• Sample collection spans a broad geographic range of more than 26 degrees of latitude
• Findings include a specific quantitative result: male blue lingcod carried 1.89 times more parasites than brown males

Limitations

• Row count and specific column definitions are unknown; data structure must be inferred
• The dataset is linked to a single research paper, which may limit its scope to the study's specific hypotheses
• Freshness is unverified as the last update date is unknown

Provenance

Source

University of Washington, author Chelsea L. Wood, via paperswithcode

Collection Method

Parasitological dissection of collected fish specimens

Geography

Coastal regions of Alaska, Washington, and California, USA