Helminth community structure of 13 species of anurans from Atlantic rainforest remnants, Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M. Toledo ◽  
H.O. Schwartz ◽  
H.A.Q. Nomura ◽  
A. Aguiar ◽  
R.A.M.V. Velota ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Host Body ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Determining Factor ◽  
Host Body Size

AbstractThis study aimed to evaluate the community composition and structure of the helminths found in 13 anuran species, and to evaluate whether this parasite community is determined by anuran characteristics. We found that the helminth fauna of the amphibians from five anuran families consisted of 13 taxa and that Cosmocercidae gen. sp. was the most prevalent taxon, followed by Oswaldocruzia subauricularis. Host body size was a determining factor of the composition and structure of the parasitic fauna. Helminth abundance and richness were positively correlated with host body size. The host Leptodactylus latrans had the highest helminth richness (n = 8). The frog Hypsiboas faber had the greatest helminth diversity (H′ = 0.711). The mean helminth species richness and diversity differed significantly between host species (P < 0.05). Taken together, our data indicate that, in sympatric species of amphibians, the morphological and behavioural characteristics of the hosts are important for structuring the helminth parasite communities.

Explaining variability in parasite aggregation levels among host samples

Parasitology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT POULIN
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Host Susceptibility ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Susceptibility To Infection ◽  
Host Body ◽  
Parasite Aggregation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Host Body Size

SUMMARYAggregated distributions among individual hosts are a defining feature of metazoan parasite populations. Heterogeneity among host individuals in exposure to parasites or in susceptibility to infection is thought to be the main factor generating aggregation, with properties of parasites themselves explaining some of the variability in aggregation levels observed among species. Here, using data from 410 samples of helminth parasites on fish hosts, I tested the contribution of (i) within-sample variation in host body size, taken as a proxy for variability in host susceptibility, and (ii) parasite taxon and developmental stage, to the aggregated distribution of parasites. Log-transformed variance in numbers of parasites per host was regressed against log mean number across all samples; the strong relationship (r2 = 0·88) indicated that aggregation levels are tightly constrained by mean infection levels, and that only a small proportion of the observed variability in parasite aggregation levels remains to be accounted for by other factors. Using the residuals of this regression as measures of ‘unexplained’ aggregation, a mixed effects model revealed no significant effect of within-sample variation in host body size or of parasite taxon or stage (i.e. juvenile versus adult) on parasite aggregation level within a sample. However, much of the remaining variability in parasite aggregation levels among samples was accounted for by the number of individual hosts examined per sample, and species-specific and study-specific effects reflecting idiosyncrasies of particular systems. This suggests that with most differences in aggregation among samples already explained, there may be little point in seeking universal causes for the remaining variation.

scholarly journals Species composition and structure of parasites component communities of tugun Coregonus tugun (Pallas, 1814) from the Khatanga and Yenisei Rivers

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
Kseniya Viktorovna Polyaeva ◽  
Gennady Nikolaevich Dorovskikh ◽  
Yuliya Konstantinovna Chugunova
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Shannon Index ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Generalist Species ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Species Composition And Structure

Tugun Coregonus tugun (Pallas, 1814) is an endemic of Siberia. Information about the species composition and structure of tugun parasite community on the stage of spawning migration is described in this paper. We carried out ichtioparasitologic studies in the Yenisey and the Khatanga Rivers in 2011-2014. Tugun parasite complex from the Khatanga River remains statistically identical in species composition, number of individuals and biomass and differs from those of the Yeniseis tugun over the entire study period. Apparently two different stocks of tugun were investigated in the Yenisei River. One of them lives in the Yeniseis streambed, the other one lives in the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. The composition of the parasitic fauna of tugun from two rivers is formed by generalist species. Tugun parasites component communities from all material collection stations have high values of the Shannon index and two dominant species (by numbers of parasites and by biomass). We found out that the species biomasses differ significantly on the graphic community structure. The description of tugun parasite communities corresponds to characteristic of a climax community on the stage of destruction except the graphic structure. In the analyzed parasitic communities the processes of egg laying and larval appearance, the death of parasites of previous year generation and infection with this year parasites occur simultaneously. The stages of formation and destruction of the community overlap. The described state of tugun parasites communities has an adaptive value. The load on the host body is reduced which ensures the long-term existence of parasites.

scholarly journals Seasonal variability of the composition and structure of parasite communities of red porgy, Pagrus pagrus (Perciformes: Sparidae) off Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Soares ◽  
J. L. Luque
Keyword(s):  
Rainy Season ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Metazoan Parasites ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Four Seasons ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Pagrus Pagrus ◽  
Autumn And Winter

Abstract A study of seasonal variation of metazoan parasite community of Pagrus pagrus was conducted between January and December 2012. Two hundred forty specimens of Pagrus pagrus were collected in four seasons (autumn and winter in dry season and spring and summer in rainy season) from off the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Twenty one species of metazoan parasites were found, with larvae of Hysterothylacium sp. being the dominant species. The highest values of prevalence and abundance was during the rainy season with peak prevalence of monogeneans and nematodes, period of action of the South Atlantic Central Waters (SACW) and reproductive activity of the host, suggesting that the sasonal variation in the parasites community was influenced for these phenomena.

scholarly journals Costs of immune responses are related to host body size and lifespan

2017 ◽  
Vol 327 (5) ◽  
pp. 254-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber J. Brace ◽  
Marc J. Lajeunesse ◽  
Daniel R. Ardia ◽  
Dana M. Hawley ◽  
James S. Adelman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Host Body ◽  
Host Body Size

scholarly journals Parasite communities in two sparid fishes from the western Mediterranean: a comparative analysis based on samples from three localities off the Algerian coast

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Benhamou ◽  
D. Marzoug ◽  
Z. Boutiba ◽  
A. Kostadinova ◽  
A. Pérez-Del-Olmo
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Algerian Coast ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Boops Boops ◽  
Abundant Data ◽  
General Prediction

Summary We provide the first known comparative assessment of metazoan parasite communities in two taxonomically and ecologically related sparids, Boops boops and Spicara maena, that are common in the coastal infralittoral habitats in the Mediterranean. Using abundant data for infracommunities in three localities off the Algerian coasts of the Mediterranean, we tested the general prediction that the phylogenetic proximity of the two hosts, their overlapping geographical distribution and habitat occupation, as well as the similar feeding habits and diet would contribute to a homogenization of their parasite community composition and structure. The regional fauna of parasites of B. boops and S. maena along the Algerian coasts of the western Mediterranean was species-rich (36 species) and dominated by heteroxenous species (27 spp; of these 20 digenean spp.). The phylogenetic relatedness between the two hosts resulted in a large number of shared parasites (56 %, 20 spp.). However, the significant overlap in the parasite faunas of the two sparid hosts and their similar feeding habits and diet did not translate into homogeneous parasite community pattern; a significant differentiation in terms of both, composition and structure, was observed.

scholarly journals Host body size and the diversity of tick assemblages on Neotropical vertebrates

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen J. Esser ◽  
Janet E. Foley ◽  
Frans Bongers ◽  
Edward Allen Herre ◽  
Matthew J. Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Host Body ◽  
Host Body Size

scholarly journals Consumer and host body size effects on the removal of trematode cercariae by ambient communities

Parasitology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-347
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Welsh ◽  
Anke Hempel ◽  
Mirjana Markovic ◽  
Jaap van der Meer ◽  
David W. Thieltges
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Size Effects ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Feeding Activity ◽  
Removal Rates ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Host Body ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Host Body Size ◽  
Significant Mortality

AbstractParasite transmission can be altered via the removal of parasites by the ambient communities in which parasite–host interactions take place. However, the mechanisms driving parasite removal remain poorly understood. Using marine trematode cercariae as a model system, we investigated the effects of consumer and host body size on parasite removal rates. Laboratory experiments revealed that consumer or host body size significantly affected cercarial removal rates in crabs, oysters and cockles but not in shrimps. In general, cercarial removal rates increased with consumer (crabs and oysters) and host (cockles) body size. For the filter feeding oysters and cockles, the effects probably relate to their feeding activity which is known to correlate with bivalve size. Low infection levels found in cockle hosts suggest that parasite removal by hosts also leads to significant mortality of infective stages. The size effects of crab and shrimp predators on cercarial removal rates were more complex and did not show an expected size match-mismatch between predators and their cercarial prey, suggesting that parasite removal rates in predators are species-specific. We conclude that to have a comprehensive understanding of parasite removal by ambient communities, more research into the various mechanisms of cercarial removal is required.

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