Search results for "Parasitism"

Long-lasting effect of stress on susceptibility of a freshwater clam to copepod parasitism.

2005

The question whether a stress event can have a long-lasting effect on susceptibility to parasites was studied using a freshwater bivalve clam and its crustacean parasite as a model system. Anodonta piscinalis clams were collected from 2 populations during August–September 2002. Clams were transported to the laboratory and marked. The stressed clams were subjected to low oxygen for 25 days, while the unstressed control clams were caged in their lakes of origin for the same period. Then the clams were transported to a third lake where they were exposed to natural infections by the ergasilid copepod, Paraergasilus rylovi , 11 months after the stress event. The stressed clams were more intensiv…

Influence of trematode parasitism on the growth of a bivalve host in the field.

1998

Abstract Trematode-induced gigantism of molluscs, enhanced growth of trematode-parasitised individuals, has been observed in many laboratory studies. This study reports the effect of the sterilising trematode, Rhipidicotyle fennica , on the growth of the freshwater clam Anodonta piscinalis under field conditions. In addition to single infections (prevalence 44%), a few clams (3%) were infected with both R. fennica and Rhipidocotyle campanula . Parasite-induced gigantism was not found; parasites lowered host growth. The decrease in growth was correlated with the quantity of parasite material. Clams with double infections grew the least, although they did not differ significantly from hosts w…

Optimum and Maximum Host Sizes at Parasitism for the Endoparasitoid <I>Hyposoter didymator</I> (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) Differ Greatl…

2007

Host size is considered a reliable indicator of host quality and an important determinant of parasitoid fitness. Koinobiont parasitoids attack hosts that continue feeding and growing during parasitism. In contrast with hemolymph-feeding koinobionts, tissue-feeding koinobionts face not only a minimum host size for successful development but also a maximum host size, because consumption of the entire host is often necessary for successful egression. Here we study interactions between a generalist tissue-feeding larval endoparasitoid, Hyposoter didymator Thunberg (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and two of its natural hosts, Spodoptera exigua Hübner and Chrysodeixis chalcites Esper (Lepidoptera: N…

The role of salmonid fishes in conservation of the endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera)

2016

The abundance of freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) has declined widely during the past century, and new conservation initiatives are needed. This thesis focused on the relationship between M. margaritifera and its salmonid host required for reproduction of this species. First, by exposing fish experimentally to glochidium larvae of M. margaritifera, different M. margaritifera populations were shown to demonstrate strong differences in their ability to parasitize different salmonid species. Atlantic salmon was clearly a better host for mussels in large river channels, whereas in small headwater tributaries brown trout was the best, or the only suitable, host. These findi…

Warblers from the New vs Old World: Quantifying selection by examining behaviours in two brood parasitism systems

Evolutionary consequences of social transmission in avian brood parasitism systems

Obligate brood parasites lay all of their eggs in nests of other species, leaving the burden of parental care entirely to the hosts. As a consequence of being parasitized, hosts’ reproductive success is often reduced. This strategy has triggered a coevolutionary dynamic involving behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations and counter-adaptations from the two players, whose conflicting functions are to successfully parasitize a nest, and prevent or reduce the negative effects of parasitism. In parasite systems studied in the New and Old worlds, warbler hosts exhibited different degrees of learning antiparasite defences from conspecifics. By quantifying strength and direction of…

Transmission and host and mate location in the fish louse Argulus coregoni and its link with bacterial disease in fish

2007

FM Matthias Bandilla osoittaa väitöstutkimuksessaan, että kirjolohen kalatäitartunnalla on selkeä yhteys Flavobacterium columnare -infektioon, joka on yksi ongelmallisimmista bakteeritaudeista suomalaisessa kalanviljelyssä tällä hetkellä. Vaikka heikko kalatäitartunta ei aiheuta kalan kuolemaa, yhdessä bakteerialtistuksen kanssa se voi olla tappava. Vastaavien vuorovaikutusten ymmärtäminen olisi tärkeää vesiviljelyn kannalta, koska erilaisten mikrobien aiheuttamien tautien ja loisten yhteisesiintyminen kalanviljelylaitoksella on ennemminkin sääntö kuin poikkeus.Kalatäi (Argulus coregoni) on pääasiassa lohikaloilla esiintyvä äyriäispintaloinen, jonka levinneisyys ulottuu koko pohjoiselle vyö…

Notes: FOOD AND PARASITES FROM TWO HOURGLASS DOLPHINS, LAGENORHYNCHUS CRUCIGER (QUOY AND GAIMARD, 1824), FROM PATAGONIAN WATERS

2003

Shoaling behaviour of fish under parasitism and predation risk

2008

Shoaling is a common antipredatory adaptation in several fish species. However, parasite infections may alter shoaling behaviour of fish by impairing fish sensory/motor systems and by reducing the net benefit of shoaling. In an experimental study, we investigated whether Diplostomum spathaceum (Trematoda) eye flukes alter shoaling behaviour of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and if this has an interaction with predation risk. The parasite reduces the vision of fish by inducing cataract formation, which in previous studies has been shown to alter fish escape responses and crypsis. We found that the shoals of infected fish contained fewer individuals and they divided into separate groups …

Effect of starvation on parasite-induced mortality in a freshwater snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum).

1999

The level of host exploitation is expected, under theory, to be selected to maximise (subject to constraints) the lifetime reproductive success of the parasite. Here we studied the effect of two castrating trematode species on their intermediate snail host, Potamopyrgus antipodarum. One of the trematode species, Microphallus sp., encysts in the snail host and the encysted larvae “hatch” following ingestion of infected snails by birds. The other species, Notocotylus gippyensis, by contrast, releases swimming larvae; ingestion of the snail host is not required for, and does not aid, transmission to the final host. We isolated field-collected snails for 3 months in the laboratory, and followed…