Experience and dominance in fish pairs jointly shape parasite avoidance behaviour

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 165-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ines Klemme ◽  
Anssi Karvonen
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

scholarly journals Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1751) ◽  
pp. 20170256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Sarabian ◽  
Val Curtis ◽  
Rachel McMullan
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Disease Avoidance ◽  
Behavioural Science ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Society Meeting ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Parasite Avoidance ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

All free-living animals are subject to intense selection pressure from parasites and pathogens resulting in behavioural adaptations that can help potential hosts to avoid falling prey to parasites. This special issue on the evolution of parasite avoidance behaviour was compiled following a Royal Society meeting in 2017. Here we have assembled contributions from a wide range of disciplines including genetics, ecology, parasitology, behavioural science, ecology, psychology and epidemiology on the disease avoidance behaviour of a wide range of species. Taking an interdisciplinary and cross-species perspective allows us to sketch out the strategies, mechanisms and consequences of parasite avoidance and to identify gaps and further questions. Parasite avoidance strategies must include avoiding parasites themselves and cues to their presence in conspecifics, heterospecifics, foods and habitat. Further, parasite avoidance behaviour can be directed at constructing parasite-retardant niches. Mechanisms of parasite avoidance behaviour are generally less well characterized, though nematodes, rodents and human studies are beginning to elucidate the genetic, hormonal and neural architecture that allows animals to recognize and respond to cues of parasite threat. While the consequences of infection are well characterized in humans, we still have much to learn about the epidemiology of parasites of other species, as well as the trade-offs that hosts make in parasite defence versus other beneficial investments like mating and foraging. Finally, in this overview we conclude that it is legitimate to use the word ‘ disgust' to describe parasite avoidance systems, in the same way that ‘fear' is used to describe animal predator avoidance systems. Understanding disgust across species offers an excellent system for investigating the strategies, mechanisms and consequences of behaviour and could be a vital contribution towards the understanding and conservation of our planet's ecosystems. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.

Sheep avoidance of faeces creates a foraging trade-off between nutrient and parasite intake

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 ◽  
pp. 94-94
Author(s):  
M. R. Hutchings ◽  
I. J. Gordon ◽  
I. Kyriazakis ◽  
F. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Species ◽  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Infective Stage ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Parasite Avoidance ◽  
Grazing Behaviour

Gastrointestinal (GI) parasites, acquired by sheep through the action of foraging, are the most pervasive challenge to their survival and reproduction. The eggs of many GI parasite species are deposited on pasture in faeces where they develop into infective stage larvae that contaminate surrounding swards. We test the hypotheses that (1) faeces and hence parasite avoidance behaviour of sheep creates a grazing trade-off between nutrition and parasitism and (2) the relative costs and benefits of the trade-off in relation to animal state of infection (parasitized, non-parasitized, immune) determines their subsequent grazing behaviour.

scholarly journals Avoidance of biological contaminants through sight, smell and touch in chimpanzees

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 170968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Sarabian ◽  
Barthelemy Ngoubangoye ◽  
Andrew J. J. MacIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Pan Troglodytes ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Parasite Infection ◽  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Pan Troglodytes Troglodytes ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Biological Contaminants ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

Avoiding biological contaminants is a well-known manifestation of the adaptive system of disgust. In theory, animals evolved with such a system to prevent pathogen and parasite infection. Bodily products are human-universal disgust elicitors, but whether they also elicit avoidance behaviour in non-human primates has yet to be tested. Here, we report experimental evidence that potential exposure to biological contaminants (faeces, blood, semen), as perceived via multiple sensory modalities (visual, olfactory, tactile), might influence feeding decisions in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes troglodytes )—our closest phylogenetic relatives. Although somewhat mixed, our results do show increased latencies to feed, tendencies to maintain greater distances from contaminants and/or outright refusals to consume food in test versus control conditions. Overall, these findings are consistent with the parasite avoidance theory of disgust, although the presence of biological contaminants did not preclude feeding entirely. The avoidance behaviours observed hint at the origins of disgust in humans, and further comparative research is now needed.

scholarly journals Mussel memory: bivalves learn to fear parasites

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Selbach ◽  
Lo&iumlc Marchant ◽  
Kim N Mouritsen
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Defence Behaviour ◽  
Lower Infection ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Fear Effects ◽  
Parasite Avoidance

Fear plays a crucial role in predator-prey interactions and can have cascading impacts on the structure of whole ecosystems. Comparable fear effects have recently been described for hosts and their parasites but our understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains limited by the lack of empirical examples. Here, we experimentally tested if bivalves Mytilus edulis can "learn to fear" the infective transmission stages (cercariae) of the trematode Himasthla elongata and if experienced mussels change their parasite-avoidance behaviour accordingly. Our results show that previous experience with parasites, but not infection per se, lead to a reduced filtration activity in mussels in the presence of cercariae compared to parasite-naive conspecifics. This reduction in filtration activity resulted in lower infection rates in mussels. Since parasite avoidance comes at the cost of lower feeding rates, mussels likely benefit from the ability to adjust their defence behaviour when infection risks are high. Overall, these dynamic learning processes of avoidance behaviour can be expected to play a significant role in regulating the bivalves' ecosystem engineering function in coastal habitats.

scholarly journals Belewenis van persone na aan selfmoord slagoffers

Curationis ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kinsella ◽  
M. Greeff ◽  
M. Poggenpoel
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Mixed Feelings

The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of people close to suicide victims. Ten participants recited their experience through written essays, which was then analysed. Themes that were identified included a need for structure and ventilation of feelings, denial and avoidance behaviour, mixed feelings, a need to find meaning in the suicide, the development of empathy for other suffering people, impaired social relationships, and questions surrounding the suicide. These themes were used to develop a framework for supporting people close to suicide victims through general, sub-professional and professional measures.

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