Host specificity in Schistocephalus solidus

Parasitology ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trond Bråten
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Pungitius Pungitius ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
New Host ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus

Investigations on the host specificity of plerocercoids of Schistocephalus solidus were carried out using the technique of surgically transferring plerocercoids from the body cavity of Gasterosteus aculeatus to various other fish. Plerocercoids survived in all cases when transferred from G. aculeatus to other G. aculeatus; when tranferred to Pungitius pungitius the worms survived for long periods but failed to grow. Plerocercoids transferred to Coitus gobio, Nemacheilus barbatula, Phoxinus phoxinus, Salmo trutta, Coregonus clupeoides, Perca fluviatilis, Rutilus rutilus and Esox lucius always died within 2–10 days after being transferred. Electron-microscopic examinations of the tegument of plerocercoids transferred to new hosts showed: in G. aculeatus normal appearance throughout the experiment; in P. pungitius degeneration of the microtrichs after 6 days; and in S. trutta complete destruction of the tegument in 7 days.Plerocercoids of the genus Diphyllobothrium survived the transfer from Gasterosteus aculeatus to Salmo trutta and continued to grow in their new host.Infection of fish with S. solidus by feeding infected copepods and by aspetic injection of procercoids into the body cavity of the fish were also tried. Gasterosteus aculeatus became infected using both these methods but it was not possible to infect Pungitius pungitius.

The Effect of Schistocephalus Solidus (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) On the Foraging and Shoaling Behaviour of Three-Spined Sticklebacks, Gasterosteus Aculeatus

Behaviour ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 1223-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Barber ◽  
Felicity A. Huntingford
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Work ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
The Body ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Shoaling Behaviour

AbstractIn this paper we review recent experimental work on the effects of the parasite Schistocephalus solidus (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) on the feeding behaviour of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.). We also discuss how increased feeding motivation and subsequent altered foraging behaviour may be a mechanism for parasite-associated changes in the shoaling behaviour of infected sticklebacks. The presence of S. solidus plerocercoids in the body cavity constricts the stomach, increases the handling time for large prey and consequently reduces the profitability of such prey for infected fish. This is reflected in a switch in dietary preference from large to small prey in the laboratory and in altered stomach contents and impaired nutrient reserves in the wild. By altering their hosts' nutritional state by direct competition for nutrients from digested food (and possibly indirectly by altering diet and reducing competitive ability) and also by altering the fishes' appearance, such parasites have the potential to alter the costs and benefits involved in joining a shoal of conspecifics. Experimental work on the shoaling decisions of S. solidus-infected sticklebacks supports this hypothesis, and such behavioural modification is discussed in the context of the manipulation hypothesis of parasite transmission.

Host specificity and rejection of Schistocephalus solidus

Parasitology ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 683-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. C. Orr ◽  
C. A. Hopkins ◽  
G. H. Charles
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Primary Infection ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Degenerative Change ◽  
Challenge Infection ◽  
Pungitius Pungitius ◽  
Irreversible Damage ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Rejection Mechanism ◽  
Survival And Growth

1. Procercoids of Schistocephalus solidus reared in copepods were found to infect marine and freshwater varieties of Gasterosteus aculeatus, and Pungitius pungitius, but not Barbus ‘Schuberti’.2. In primary infections growth of S. solidus plerocercoids in P. pungitius was much slower than in G. aculeatus and ceased after 6–8 days; plerocercoids were dead by day 11 at 19·5 °C, and by day 14 at 10 °C.3. A challenge infection, following two previous infections given 14 and 28 days before, becomes established in G. aculeatus, but in P. pungitius plerocercoids are rejected within 3–5 days.4. The possible rejection mechanism involved in P. pungitius to primary and tertiary infections is discussed and electronmicrographic evidence presented of a degenerative change in the tegument visible by 8 days in a primary infection. Prior to 8 days the survival and growth of S. solidus plerocercoids surgically transferred to G. aculeatus, indicated no irreversible damage had occurred.

The consequences of self-fertilization and outcrossing of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus in its second intermediate host

Parasitology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. CHRISTEN ◽  
M. MILINSKI
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Mixed Mating ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Self Fertilization ◽  
Second Intermediate Host

Many hermaphroditic parasites reproduce by both cross-fertilization and self-fertilization. To understand the maintenance of such mixed mating systems it is necessary to compare the fitness consequences of the two reproductive modes. This has, however, almost never been done in the context of host–parasite coevolution. Here we show the consequences of outcrossing and selfing in an advanced life-stage of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus, i.e. in its second intermediate host, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Each juvenile stickleback was simultaneously exposed to 2 experimentally infected copepods, one harbouring outcrossed the other selfed parasites. At 60 days p.i. parasites were removed from the fish's body cavity and, with microsatellite markers, assigned to either outcrossed or selfed origin. Prevalence was not significantly higher in outcrossed parasites. However, those fish that were infected contained significantly more outcrossed than selfed parasites. Thus the probability of a selfed parasite to progress in the life-cycle is reduced in the second intermediate host. Furthermore, we found that even the multiply infected fish increased in weight during the experiment. Nevertheless, total worm weight in multiply infected fish was significantly lower than in singly infected ones, which thus might be a parasite life-history strategy.

Studies on Tapeworm Physiology

1946 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. SMYTH
Keyword(s):  
Histological Examination ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Final Host ◽  
The Body ◽  
Normal Behaviour ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Peptone Broth

A technique has been elaborated that enabled the plerocercoid larvae of Schistocephalus solidus to be removed from the body cavity of Gasterosteus aculeatus without bacterial contamination. Larvae were cultured in plugged test-tubes under completely aseptic conditions in a variety of balanced salines, glucose salines and nutrient peptone broth. The most successful results were obtained with peptone broth at room temperatures (16-19° C) in which plerocercoids remained active and showed normal behaviour for periods up to 300 days. In ¾ strength Locke's solution, which was found by experiment to be approximately isotonic with Schistocephalus (δ = -0.44 ± 0.02° C), the mean period of normal behaviour was 114 days. In the remaining saline and saline-glucose media, the mean viability and period of normal behaviour was considerably less. In the plerocercoid, histological examination revealed that the genitalia are in an immature condition. During cultivation at room temperatures, the genitalia remained in this undifferentiated condition and showed no signs of undergoing spermatogenesis, oogenesis or vitellogenesis. Plerocercoids were induced to develop into sexually mature adults by raising the temperature of cultivation in peptone broth to 40° C. (i.e. the body temperature of the final host in the natural life cycle). Oviposition took place after 48-60 hr. at this temperature, and histological examination revealed that spermatogenesis, oogenesis, vitellogenesis and shell formation had taken place in a normal manner. The viability of artificially matured Schistocephalus was 4-6 days in vitro--a period equivalent to the viability of the adult in vivo. The eversion of the cirris was observed in each proglottid after 40 hr. cultivation at 40° C. During the sexual process the cirris everted and invaginated at the rate of about once per second. Cross-fertilization between segments of the same worm or with segments of another worm was not observed. Except for one specimen in ¾ strength Locke's solution which underwent spermatogenesis and partial vitellogenesis, larvae cultured in salines or glucose salines at 40° C. died within 1-3 days without further development. Attempts to hatch out the eggs produced by the cultivation of larvae in peptone broth at 40° C. proved unsuccessful. Histological examination revealed that spermatozoa had not been taken into the vagina. It was concluded that the eggs were not fertilized owing to the failure of normal copulation to take place.

The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) infection with Schistocephalus solidus in Hel marina (Puck Bay, Baltic Sea, Poland)

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Mačát ◽  
Adam Bednařík ◽  
Martin Rulík
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
The Body ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Body Width ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Total Prevalence ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Puck Bay

AbstractParasitic relations between animals are very common in wild nature. In this paper, we studied levels of infection in three-spined stickleback with plerocercoids of Schistocephalus solidus from Puck Bay (Baltic Sea, Poland). The total prevalence of infection was 54.2%, while proportion of infected individuals was significantly higher for females than for males. The body width was found to be significantly positively correlated with the number and the weight of parasites. In spite of the increasing deterioration of the Baltic Sea ecosystem by excessive eutrophication and hypoxia, lower prevalence of infection compared to previous published data indicates that there are likely other factors than pollution affecting the life cycle of parasites and the level of parasitism.

Studies on Schistocephalus solidus

Parasitology ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morag L. O. McCaig ◽  
C. Adrian Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Horse Serum ◽  
Electron Microscopic Examination ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus

Schistocephalus plerocercoids in the weight range 2–200mg F.W. recovered from the perivisceral cavity of Gasterosteus aculeatus were cultured in various media. In a medium composed of 25% horse serum, 0·5% yeast extract, 0·65% glucose and Hanks's saline at pH 7·1, 21°C, 95% air +5% CO2, dry weight increases of up to 500% were recorded in 8 days. The specific growth rate of large plerocercoids was only one-tenth of the rate observed in small plerocercoids. A plerocercoid of double the weight of another had approximately half the specific growth rate.Worms after 8 days cultivation were found to have only slightly higher than normal glycogen and water content, and to be able to mature when heated to 40°C. However, the rate of growth slowed to zero by the 24th day in culture at 21°C. Electron microscopic examination showed a ‘deposit’ formed over the microvilli, thin at 8 days but dense after 21 days.The in vivo glycogen and water content of plerocercoids from 3–300 mg F.W. was determined. Glycogen rose from 24% in plerocercoids of 10mg F. W. to 50–55% in plerocercoids over 80mg F. W. The water content was found to mimic precisely this change, falling from 82% to a plateau of 67–69%.We wish to thank Professor Gareth Owen for permission to use the photograph shown in the Plate and for his help while using the electron microscope. It is also a pleasure to thank Miss Patricia Grant for her technical assistance.

Infections of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., with the plerocercoid larvae of Schistocephalus solidus (Müller, 1776), with special reference to pathological effects

Parasitology ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Arme ◽  
R. Wynne Owen
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Liver Weight ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
The Body ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Maximum Value ◽  
Individual Host ◽  
Concurrent Infections ◽  
The Relationship

Infections are described of Gasterosteus aculeatus in a pond at Leeds with the plerocercoid larvae of Schistocephalus solidus.Very heavy infections were found in the summer of 1962 and early 1963; many fish harboured over 50 worms and the maximum was 130.For each individual host the relative percentage parasite-weight to host-weight has been determined (parasitization index). In more than 50% of the fish the P.I. exceeded 25; the maximum value was 68·5. The relationship between P.I., numbers of worms and weight of worms is described.Some effects of parasitization on the host are described; they include gross distension of the body, reduction of liver weight, reduction of packed cell volume of erythrocytes and delay in oocyte maturation. In some heavily parasitized individuals spawning is apparently inhibited.Concurrent infections with the microsporidian Glugea anomala are described.Our thanks are due to Mr A. Rennie, B.Sc., of the Yorkshire Ouse and Hull River Authority for drawing our attention to the source of infected sticklebacks, to Mr A. O. Holliday for the preparation of photographs and to Mr G. R. Standley for assistance in the preparation of the slide shown in PI. 1, fig. 3. We also wish to thank Dr J. N. Ball, Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, for his helpful comments on the gonads of infected fish, and Professor J. M. Dodd, Department of Zoology, University of Leeds, for providing facilities and much helpful discussion. One of us (C. A.) gratefully acknowledges the receipt of a Science Research Council Research Studentship and Fellowship.

Lobster (Homarus americanus), a new host for marine horsehair worms (Nectonema agile, Nematomorpha)

2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schmidt-Rhaesa ◽  
Gerhard Pohle ◽  
Julien Gaudette ◽  
Victoria Burdett-Coutts
Keyword(s):  
Homarus Americanus ◽  
First Record ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
The Body ◽  
American Lobster ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
New Host

Nectonema species are parasites of decapod crustaceans and the only known representatives of the otherwise freshwater/terrestrial taxon Nematomorpha. We report the American lobster, Homarus americanus, as a new host for Nectonema agile, a first record among astacidean decapods. A female, about 590 mm long, was found in the body cavity of one female lobster specimen. We assume lobster to be a very rare host for Nectonema.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document