The “International symposium on ecology and evolution of marine parasites and diseases” is a unique meeting combining marine ecology and parasitology. Considering the need to integrate parasitology in ecosystem studies and global change scenarios, this symposium provides a great opportunity to present the latest research findings regarding marines parasites, to gather international experts from various disciplines and to identify next research priorities in this area, both at the European and international levels.

The symposium included seven sessions spread over 3 days on parasites affecting marine organisms: parasite adaptation and evolution, biogeopgraphy and macroecology, parasite detection, disease impact and management, epidemiology, environmental parasitology. A workshop focusing on micro-parasites of bivalves was also organised on the 4th day and was opened to interested participants.

The symposium was held at "Espace Encan" in La Rochelle, on the 15th-18th of November 2022. The 7 sessions were also available remotely through the Imagina application: https://app.imagina.com/marine-parasitology-symposium

A total of 123 participants from 22 differents countries attended the Symposium.

The scientific committee :

• Dr. Isabelle Arzul, IFREMER, France


• Dr. David W. Thieltges, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The Netherlands


• Dr. Mathias Wegner, Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany


• Pr. Xavier de Montaudouin, University of Bordeaux, France

The organizing committee: IFREMER, Adaptation and health of marine invertabrates Unit (ASIM), La Tremblade, France

• Isabelle Arzul, Isabelle.Arzul@ifremer.fr


• Lydie Canier,Lydie.Canier@ifremer.fr


• Véronique Betto, Veronique.Betto@ifremer.fr

The Sponsors:

This event has received funding from Ifremer, the Aquitaine Region, the Communauté d'Agglomération de La Rochelle, UMR EPOC/University of Bordeaux, and the European Union Reference Laboratory for Molluscs Diseases.