# What is the difference between a predator and a parasite



## Stylopidae (Jul 28, 2006)

What is the difference between a predator and a parasite?

Cookie cutter sharks = predators

Botflies= parasites

They do the same thing, only one is on the inside. Yet...botflies are parasites and cookie cutter sharks are considered predators.

A better example

Liver fluke=parasite, feeds and lives on one organ most of it's life

Monarch caterpillar=herbivore, feeds and lives on one organ most of it's life


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## zinto (Jul 29, 2006)

Parasites don't generally kill the host though, do they?  (I'm just throwing stuff out there)  It seems to me that predators will end the life of their prey, but parasites live their life on the host only taking enough to sustain them which doesn't kill the host.  I dunno, just a thought....


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## lucanidae (Jul 29, 2006)

A 'true' parasite dosen't normally kill its host, and usually only feeds on one host animal.  A predator hunts many prey and....kills them.


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## Subterfuge (Jul 29, 2006)

Predators kill food for consumption.
Parasites desire live hosts

BTW: Cookie Cutter sharks also consume whole prey, such as squid. Making them a predator.


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## xelda (Jul 29, 2006)

Evil Cheshire said:
			
		

> They do the same thing, only one is on the inside.


Not necessarily.  There are ectoparasites (parasites that live on the outside, like fleas and ticks) and mesoparasites that live partially internal and external.


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## Lindze (Jul 29, 2006)

Predator 
An organism that lives by preying on other organisms.

Parasite
An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host


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## Bigboy (Jul 29, 2006)

A parasite takes up residence.


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## Stylopidae (Jul 29, 2006)

So from this article



> Many ocean animals mimic or act like other animals. Aspidontus rhinorhynchus, the false cleaner fish, looks very much like a wrasse—stripes and all. But the false cleaner doesn’t clean other fish, it eats them. It hangs around the cleaning station, acting like a cleaner, even swimming in the jerky motion of a true wrasse. The host fish arrives and takes its position. Then the false cleaner boldly swims up and bites a piece off the host’s tongue or scales.
> 
> By the time the surprised host fish responds, the false cleaner has fled with its meal. The only obvious difference between real and false cleaners is that the impostors’ mouths are on the lower part of their heads. Some host fish spot this difference and swim away from the cleaning station. Wise old ones open their mouths wide—and swallow the fake.


A. rhinorhynchus...predator or parasite?

The definition for both is something everyone knows, what I'm asking is where the line is really drawn.

Mosquitoes are considered ecto-parasites despite the fact that a portion of their diet comes from nectar.

So given the definitions everyone here has given, would that not make monarch catterpillars ectoparasites?


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## lucanidae (Jul 29, 2006)

I don't think you can be a parasitic herbivore; unless you are a parasitic plant.

I would consider A. rhinorhynchus a predator; an interesting one though.  It lures in prey using agressive mimiciry and then takes a chunck out of them.  It also appears as though it dosen't really discriminate among prey items, making it a more generalist predator then a parasite.  Although, I bet there is a special name for this type of system.


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## xelda (Jul 29, 2006)

Well, it's not that clear cut though, especiallly when you consider the different categories of parasites:

ectoparasite:  on host or in orifices
endoparasite:  inside a host
ento or mesoparasite:  partially internal & external
hyperparasite:  parasite of a parasite
parasitoid:  insect that's a combination of a predator and parasite (e.g. depositing eggs into a host for the larvae to consume)
facultative parasite:  parasitic if the opportunity arises
obligate parasite:  mandatory parasite, no choice but to be parasitic

The difference between those and predators is that the interaction between the predator and prey is very short-term. There is no actual stage of the life cycle being spent with the prey.

I'm posting this straight out of my notes from parasitology, but there are some good textbooks on the subject if you're interested in reading more.


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## thisgal (Jul 29, 2006)

My mother is a parasite.


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## insect714 (Jul 29, 2006)

LMAO thisgal.....I know the feeling


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## Stylopidae (Jul 30, 2006)

xelda said:
			
		

> Well, it's not that clear cut though, especiallly when you consider the different categories of parasites:
> 
> ectoparasite:  on host or in orifices
> endoparasite:  inside a host
> ...


Of course...mind posting a link?

I've started to get interested in parasitology after reading Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer.

It's a great book...one I reccomend anyone interested in parasitology checking out.


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## Ganoderma (Jul 31, 2006)

so then a butterfly in caterpillar form is a "parasitoid"?  are butterflies different ebcause their adult stage they eat nectar instead?

how come an animal cant be a parasite on a plant???  what about bugs that suck juices exclusivly?  many dont totally kill the host.  and beetles?  perhaps the larval stage makes them non-parasites?  

this was a good question, i never thought about that before.


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## Stylopidae (Jul 31, 2006)

I believe there are nematodes which are classified as plant parasites.


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## iturnrocks (Aug 1, 2006)

xelda said:
			
		

> ectoparasite:  on host or in orifices
> endoparasite:  inside a host
> ento or mesoparasite:  partially internal & external
> hyperparasite:  parasite of a parasite
> ...


Anyone know where freshwater mussel glochidia fit in this list?
I think they are most interesting.  Most are species specific and will not survive unless they find the correct fish to attach to.


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