Comparative analysis: a tool for studying monogenean ecology and evolution

The comparative approach has been used widely in evolutionary ecology during the last 10 years. In the first part of this study, taking monogeneans of Mediterranean marine fishes as an example, we highlight the pitfalls that may arise in interspecific studies. In the second part, the independent contrast method is used to control for phylogenetic effects in order to evaluate the determinants of monogenean species richness and their specificity. Our results show the importance of controlling data for both host sample size and phylogeny to avoid confounding effects. Thereafter, taking into account both sampling effort and phylogenetic effects, our results show that host size is the main factor affecting monogenean species richness and specificity.