Search results for "amphipod"

Fine Determination of the Molt Cycle Stages in Orchestia cavimana Heller (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

1986

ABSTRACT The successive stages of the molt cycle of the terrestrial crustacean amphipod Orchestia cavimana are finely described and illustrated in order to give precise reference marks for experimental, physiological, and biochemical studies. The method of determination, very rapid and easy, is based upon the observation of the morphogenesis of the dactylopodite and the propodite from the third pereiopod. The events of the early morphogenesis of the claw from the dactylopodite divide the intermolt period C into four stages. The formation of spines and the secretion of the epicuticle and then the procuticle at the level of the propodite divide the premolt period into seven stages. The entire…

Sexual selection on male body size and assortative pairing in Gammarus pulex (Crustacea: Amphipoda): field surveys and laboratory experiments

2004

Variation in size-assortative pairing was studied in relation to sexual selection on male body size in the amphipod Gammarus pulex, using both transverse and longitudinal surveys of natural populations. In addition, the influence of male–male competition on size-assortative pairing was tested in the laboratory. In both surveys, the intensity of sexual selection was positive and significant for male body size but not for females, and size-assortative pairing was positive and significant. The magnitude of size-assortative pairing, however, varied significantly between populations. The magnitude of size-assortative pairing was positively correlated with the intensity of sexual selection on mal…

Origin of the natural variation in the storage of dietary carotenoids in freshwater amphipod crustaceans

2020

16 pages; International audience; Carotenoids are diverse lipophilic natural pigments which are stored in variable amounts by animals. Given the multiple biological functions of carotenoids, such variation may have strong implications in evolutionary biology. Crustaceans such as Gammarus amphipods store large amounts of these pigments and inter-population variation occurs. While differences in parasite selective pressure have been proposed to explain this variation, the contribution of other factors such as genetic differences in the gammarid ability to assimilate and/or store pigments, and the environmental availability of carotenoids cannot be dismissed. This study investigates the relati…

Interspecific differences in carotenoid content and sensitivity to UVB radiation in three acanthocephalan parasites exploiting a common intermediate …

2011

9 pages; International audience; Few endoparasite species are pigmented. Acanthocephalans are an exception however, with several species being characterised by yellow to orange colouration both at the immature (cystacanth) and adult stages. However, the functional and adaptive significance of carotenoid-based colourations in acanthocephalans remains unclear. One possibility is that the carotenoid content of acanthocephalan cystacanths acts as a protective device against ultra-violet radiation (UVR) passing through the translucent cuticle of their crustacean hosts. Indeed, acanthocephalans often bring about behavioural changes in their aquatic intermediate hosts that can increase their expos…

Is the host or the parasite the most locally adapted in an amphipod–acanthocephalan relationship? A case study in a biological invasion context

2007

8 pages; International audience; Manipulative endoparasites with complex life cycles can alter their intermediate host immunity and behaviour in ways that increase survival probability within the host body cavity and enhance successful transmission to the definitive host. These parasitic manipulations are variable among and within parasite species and may result from co-evolutionary processes, in which the parasite is constrained for adaptation to the local intermediate host. Hence, arrival of a new host species in a local host population may promote local parasite maladaptation. This study tested the occurrence of local adaptation in two distantly located populations of the acanthocephalan…

Mating strategies and resulting patterns in mate guarding crustaceans : an empirical and theoretical approach

2012

Because of strong costs associated with each mating event, females are usually not as available for reproduction as males at any given time. Males are therefore in competition with each other for access to receptive females, hence leading to strong sexual selection. One textbook case of such a mating system occurs in moulting crustaceans where females can only be fertilized during a short period following their moult. This has favoured the evolution male strategies to monopolize females before their period of receptivity. Such a precopulatory mate guarding is widespread among many taxa and represents one of the most striking example of males’ competitive traits favoured by sexual selection.…

Anxiété et manipulation parasitaire chez un invertébré aquatique : approches évolutive et mécanistique

2020

Trophically transmitted parasites induce changes in their host’s phenotype. These changes are supposed to increase transmission probability to definitive hosts through the predation of intermediate hosts. This phenomenon is known as ‘parasite manipulation’ has been hypothesized to be an adaptive trait of parasites for a long time. As manipulation involves predator-prey interactions, it is therefore necessary to understand how antipredatory behaviours are modulated by exogenous (predation pressure) and endogenous (infection, emotional state) factors. We tried to go into this phenomenon in depth, in amphipods, by responding toseveral questions : (1) what is the extent of the multidimensionali…

Do distantly related parasites rely on the same proximate factors to alter the behaviour of their hosts?

2006

Phylogenetically unrelated parasites often increase the chances of their transmission by inducing similar phenotypic changes in their hosts. However, it is not known whether these convergent strategies rely on the same biochemical precursors. In this paper, we explored such aspects by studying two gammarid species ( Gammarus insensibilis and Gammarus pulex ; Crustacea: Amphipoda: Gammaridae) serving as intermediate hosts in the life cycle of two distantly related parasites: the trematode, Microphallus papillorobustus and the acanthocephalan, Polymorphus minutus . Both these parasite species are known to manipulate the behaviour of their amphipod hosts, bringing them towards the water surfa…

Effect of substrate and seagrass habitat complexity on detritus colonization and decomposition in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Thau Lagoon, France…

2019

Altered host behaviour and brain serotonergic activity caused by acanthocephalans: evidence for specificity

2006

Manipulative parasites can alter the phenotype of intermediate hosts in various ways. However, it is unclear whether such changes are just by-products of infection or adaptive and enhance transmission to the final host. Here, we show that the alteration of serotonergic activity is functionally linked to the alteration of specific behaviour in the amphipodGammarus pulexinfected with acanthocephalan parasites.Pomphorhynchus laevisand, to a lesser extent,Pomphorhynchus tereticollisaltered phototactism, but not geotactism, inG. pulex, whereas the reverse was true forPolymorphus minutus. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) injected to uninfectedG. pulexmimicked the altered phototactism, but ha…