Talk:Whale louse

Size

Great article! Pcb21 Pete 12:59, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

However, can someone please add info about size? i.e. length, mass. Ian Page 04:03, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

symbiotic

I am curious as to why it is considered parasitic if it eats algae and not whale. Also it may be symbiotic if it helps the whale get rid of barnacles. (althouth whales use barnacles attached to them as scraping weapons in fights with other whales). Skapur 22:39, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm curious about this as well. Drutt (talk) 23:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

In the opening paragraph we have two statements: "A whale louse is a commensal crustacean" and "Whale lice are external parasites" - is parasitism not exclusive of commensalism? 216.126.242.181 (talk) 00:06, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

Exactly. A relationship can't be harmless (commensal) and deleterious (parasitic) to the same individual. I'd drop the "commensal" claim, given all the rest of the evidence. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 16:56, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Proofed

Proof read, and looks very good. Added additional species. Added dimensions of one species per request. Atom 01:58, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

How does the louse comes from one whale to the other?

The article says, that the whale louse has no swimming period in its lifetime, but how does the louse comes from one whale to the other? Without a swimming phase this could only happen by physical contact, for example during birth or the pairing season. But still, the physical contact must be long enough that the louse can walk from one whale to the other. Does not look like easy for me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dodothegoof (talk • contribs) 22:06, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Good question. I'd also like to know more about this: The whale louse Cyamus catodontis lives exclusively on the skin of the male sperm whale, while Neocyamus physeteris is found only on females and the young. How do male young lose one species of louse and gain another? Drutt (talk) 23:29, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

commensal crustacean?

Is there a reason why these things are called commensal crustaceans? I've seen videos on youtube and the damaged to the skin of the whale is horrifying. Wouldn't it be better to label them as parasitic? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.47.219.39 (talk) 05:35, 16 February 2019 (UTC)