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How can we study the impact of human activity on parasite communities in tropical ecosystem? At the 2025 Annual Meeting of the British Ecological Society in Edinburgh, Armando Cruz-Laufer presented our team's research on the effects of overfishing and marine protected areas on the parasites of fishes in mangrove forests.

We are establishing a first baseline survey of the species diversity and building a first dataset of DNA barcoding data for the parasites occurring in mangrove ecosystems in coastal West Africa (specifically Senegal). The project is a collaboration of our team with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) in Dakar, and University of Washington (UW).

BES is the largest scientific conference dedicated to ecology in Europe and, therefore, provided a excellent platform to present our results and exchange ideas with ecologists from different fields.

Our team attended the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Belgian Society for Parasitology & Protistology (BSPP), which took place in Ghent on December 16th.

Miriam Shigoley gave an oral presentation on parasite diversity in Nile tilapia and collaboration with local stakeholders in Kenya. Emilie Goossens presented her work on trematodes, invasive snails, and wildlife mortality. Martina Topić showcased parasitic copepod diversity in estuarine fishes. Linde Cools illustrated the bioindication potential of parasitic fauna in African wetlands. And Nathan Vranken presented the digitalisation of parasites for education and awareness-raising. 

The day ended on a high note. We congratulate Tiziana Gobbin on being awarded the Best Artwork Award for her parasitology-related illustration!

The project entitled 'One-Health Monitoring of Tropical Wetlands meets the Science Policy Interface' has a long-term goal of developing frameworks for One-Health monitoring of wetlands and implementing them in the countries of the global south. 

As part of an international project awarded to a consortium led by our team including Luc Janssens de Bisthoven (RBINS), Jean Hugé (Open University of the Netherlands), Chelsea Wood (University of Washington), Emmanuel Abwe (University of Lubumbashi, Congo), and Rajeev Raghavan (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, India) (KUFOS) as partners, a six-day workshop was organized between 8th and 13th of December at KUFOS. Co-funded by the Wildlife Institute of India and CWRDM, the workshop provided 35 participants from three countries and nine states of India the relevant skills and expertise for integrating ecosystem health monitoring and science policy translation into an interdisciplinary approach for monitoring tropical wetlands.  

This year’s Dag van de Wetenschap at Hasselt University was once again a fantastic celebration of curiosity, science and public engagement. Our team was proud to be part of it!

The outreach stand, “De wondere wormige wereld van parasieten”, was co-organized by Armando Cruz-Laufer, Tiziana Gobbin, and Maarten Vanhove, and animated by Nathan Vranken. Emilie Goossens, Linde Cools, Miriam Shigoley, Sofie Leen.

Throughout the day, visitors of all ages stepped into the tiny yet fascinating universe of parasites. They looked at parasite specimens, tried our parasite-themed memory game, and contributed to ongoing research by sharing their perceptions of parasites.

On 06 November 2025, researchers, students, community representatives, and institutional actors gathered at the IRD Center in Hann (Dakar, Senegal) for a multi-stakeholder workshop dedicated to a promising yet under-documented topic in West Africa: the role of vector predation by fish as a potential ecosystem service.

This event forms part of an international collaboration led by Armando Cruz-Laufer from our team in collaboration with Oumar Sadio from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and Arfang Diamanka from the Université de Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), exploring how aquatic ecosystems contribute to human and animal health, with a focus on the natural regulation of mosquito populations.

This meeting marked an important step toward bridging ecological research, public health, and community knowledge in Senegal. By recognising and valuing natural ecosystem functions – such as the predation of mosquito vectors – stakeholders can work together toward more sustainable and health-centred ecosystem management.

At the 65th ITM Colloquium, hosted by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Emilie Goossens presented her research on buffalo parasites and won the best poster pitch award! In her poster pitch during the session on One Health approaches for disease control, she explained how invasive snails may drive the transmission of a parasite infecting the stomach of buffaloes in a Zimbabwean game reserve. These flukes usually do not cause mortality, but combined with other stressors in an area with high human pressure, parasites could give the final blow to these animals!

Do mangrove fish species feed on mosquitoes that transmit human diseases and does fishing influence the feeding behaviour and health of these fishes?

Our team studies this potential benefit of mangroves through an international collaboration led by Armando Cruz-Laufer together with Oumar Sadio from the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) in Dakar, as well as Maarten Vanhove, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, and Chelsea Wood. Like in 2022 and 2024, we sampled in the Bamboung Marine Protected Area in the Saloum Delta.

We aim to test whether gut content and parasitic infections of the fish differ inside the protected area, where fishing is not permitted, and outside of it. That way, we will begin to understand how fishing changes the health and diet of fishes in mangrove forests, and how this might indirectly affect human health.

Our team was thrilled to participate in the Nuit Européenne des Chercheur·es 2025 at the shopping mall Médiacité Liège, showcasing the fascinating—and often overlooked—world of parasites to shoppers. The outreach stand, “Parasites sauvages, trésors de la nature”, was organized by Tiziana Gobbin and Maarten Vanhove, and animated by Emilie Goossens and Linde Cools.

Visitors of all ages were captivated to see real parasite specimens, and learn that parasites are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems and supporting One Health. Participants also had the chance to contribute to ongoing research by sharing their perceptions of parasites, highlighting the importance of public engagement in biodiversity science.

A heartfelt thanks to the Réjouisciences team for this fantastic opportunity and to everyone who visited our stand!

Several members of our team proudly contributed to the FishBase & SeaLifeBase Symposium, , an international event dedicated to these two highly useful platforms.

Our group delivered an impressive range of talks highlighting how parasite research and digital databases can work hand by hand.

Maarten Vanhove presented a holistic approach of host-parasite co-conservation. Nikol Kmentová explored One Health perspectives on marine invasions. Maarten Van Steenberge presented advances in reconstructing freshwater biogeography using catfish genomes.

Nathan Vranken introduced a virtual learning environment for the ichtyology and parasitology.  Armando Cruz-Laufer discussed parasite biodiversity and trophic dynamics in mangrove fishes from Senegal. Leona Milec discussed genetic indicators in fisheries management. Tiziana Gobbin revisited “Darwin’s nightmare,” presenting the dual decline of cichlids and their parasites. 

Miriam Shigoley emphasised why parasite records are the missing link in fish databases. Archimède Mushagalusa Mulega showcased how DNA barcoding of Bagrobdella flatworms refined the taxonomy of a catfish. Martina Topić shared insights from fish ectoparasites in a South Carolina estuary. Tuan Nguyen presented what the public thinks of fishes. Elysée Rutakaza Nzigire examined resource partitioning in East African Oreochromis species.

As part of the Parasitology and One Health course, our 3rd-year Biology students took part in an unforgettable excursion to the veterinary campus of the University of Liège. The visit was accompanied by Maarten Vanhove, Tiziana Gobbin, and our PhD students Martina Topić, Miriam Shigoley and Amal Lamkhalkhal.

The day began with Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux challenging students to think critically about the One Health concept and its implications for parasitology, This discussion perfectly aligned with the course’s interdisciplinary focus!

After lunch, the group moved to the autopsy room for the highlight of the excursion: a purpoise dissection led by Thierry Jauniaux. He explained how to determine the cause of death of marine mammals, offering students a rare, hands-on look into this investigative work.

A big thank-you to our colleagues at the University of Liège, including  Mutien Garigliany, for hosting us and making this learning experience so memorable. 

Our team was delighted to join the 40th Ichthyoparasitological Symposium in Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany—a meeting known for its friendly atmosphere and excellent scientific exchange. 

Tiziana Gobbin opened the scientific programme with a presentation on co-conservation of the European weatherfish and its flatworm parasites. Her work shows that the Belgian captive-breeding programme for this critically endangered fish also serves as a refuge for three native flatworm species at harmless levels. 

Archimède Mushagalusa Mulega presented the first molecular data for Bagrobdella, a flatworm parasite infecting catfishes. Parasite distribution patterns showed that Auchenoglanis occidentalis, long considered a single species, is actually a complex of several species. 

Gyrhaiss Kapepula Kasembele reported on nematodes infecting the catfish Clarias stappersii in the Upper Congo Basin through morphological and molecular analyses. This is an important step in describing the region’s largely unknown parasitic fauna.

Armando Cruz-Laufer shared results from the first quantitative survey of metazoan parasites in West African mangrove fishes, conducted in Senegal’s Saloum Delta. His work provides a crucial baseline for understanding how fisheries and marine protected areas shape parasite communities.

Third-year Biology students of the Parasitology and One Health (POH) course—accompanied by Maarten Vanhove, Prof. Nikol Kmentová, Dr. Tiziana Gobbin, and our PhD students Martina Topić, Miriam Shigoley and Emilie Goossens — visited the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp.

Veronique Dermauw, Nico Van Aerde, and Valérie Vermeersch introduced students to the history, importance, capacity building, and science communication of ITM. Melvyn Quan showed how ticks are digitised to create detailed 3D models for global access and research. Also, students had the unique opportunity to witness the monitoring of Echinococcus in fox roadkills and learn about real-life cases of public health concerns linked to parasites in Belgium. 

A warm thank-you to all ITM colleagues who made this visit so inspiring for our students!

World Archives of Species Perception – Parasite (WASP-P) is a project investigating  how people perceive wildlife parasites—ecologically important organisms that are overlooked in conservation.
Within just a few days, the WASP-P online survey received an incredible number of responses from across Belgium, boosted by wide media coverage (including VRT, Het Laatste Nieuws, Het Nieuwsblad, and Het Belang van Limburg).

To make the initiative even more engaging, we added a unique bonus: the public can vote on the scientific names of four newly discovered flatworm species. These parasites had been waiting decades to be formally named, as they were sitting on the gills of riverine cichlids originally collected in the 1940s and 1950s and preserved in the Africa Museum (Tervuren) since then. Voting is open until May 15th.
Here is the link to partecipate: https://tinyurl.com/wasp-parasite 

A big thank-you to everyone who has participated so far—and to dr. Tiziana Gobbin and dr. Armando Cruz-Laufer for bringing parasite biodiversity into the spotlight in such an engaging way!

We are happy to announce that our team now includes a certified IUCN Global and Regional Red List Assessor. 

Dr. Tiziana Gobbin successfully completed the training modules and exam to earn this prestigious certification, which enables her to assess species conservation status at both global and regional levels. This is an important milestone for our team’s conservation work!

This year the German Society for Parasitology (DGP), the Swiss Society for Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (SSTMP) and the British Society for Parasitology (BSP) joined forces and organized a huge conference: the Joint Parasitology Spring Meeting in Würzburg, Germany. 

Dr. Tiziana Gobbin was very honoured to be an invited speaker and presented her work on the decline of fish parasites in response to ecosystem changes in Lake Victoria and on the potential co-conservation of three potentially endangered flatworm parasites alongside their endangered fish host.

Our team attended for the first time the Annual meeting of the Belgian Society for Parasitology and Protistology, which took place in Liège on November 26th.

Prof. Maarten Vanhove gave an overview of ongoing projects of the team on parasite ecology, evolution, conservation and on didactics and capacity building. Kelly Thys presented her work on the (lack of) diversification in a flatworm parasite infecting African Nile perches. At the poster session, Dr. Tiziana Gobbin advocated for the conservation of wildlife parasites while Miriam Shigoley presented new insights on the morphology of Clinostomum. 

Also, Miriam was awarded the 2024 Zoetis travel Grant  to attend the XI International Symposium on Fish Parasites in Mérida (Mexico) next January. Congratulations!