Parasite infracommunity diversity in eels: a reflection of local component community diversity

Norton, J.H.; Lewis, Jane; Rollinson, David

doi:10.1017/s0031182003003937

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Species abundance distributions are widely used in ecology but have only been applied to parasite communities on rare occasions (Norton et al 2003;Poulin 2007). Numerous theoretical models have been proposed to explain observed species abundance distributions; they make similar predictions, and there is no consensus as to which is the most realistic or useful (McGill et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking species abundance distributions and body size in monogenean communities

Poulin

Justine

2008

Parasitol Res

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Parasite communities are characterised by one or a few numerically dominant species and many rare species. Although this pattern is well recognised, its underlying causes remain unknown. In this study, we tested whether variation in abundance among species within parasite communities can be explained by interspecific variation in body size. We used data on nine fish species (families Serranidae and Lethrinidae) from New Caledonia, each harbouring strictly host-specific diplectanid monogenean species with very uneven abundances. On each fish species, the most abundant monogenean species accounted for between one half and two thirds of all individuals recovered from the community, and its abundance was between 2 and 114 times greater than that of the second-most abundant species. However, there was no convincing evidence that the ratio of abundance values between the two most abundant species in a community co-varied with the ratio in their body sizes; thus, size differences cannot explain these differences in abundances between common species. It is surprising to note that in two of the three communities with enough species for an analysis to be performed, body size tended to correlate positively with abundance among all species of diplectanid monogeneans. Thus, although body size variation on its own cannot account for the pronounced differences in abundance among monogenean species within the same community, body size remains an important determinant of abundance as it relates to life-history traits underpinning reproductive rates and population growth in these unsaturated communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking species abundance distributions and body size in monogenean communities

Poulin

Justine

2008

Parasitol Res

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“…the presence of the parasite in eels in the Baltic (Markowski 1933) does not mean that the eel was infected there: more probably it was infected in freshwater and carried the parasite to sea with it. it would also explain why the parasite is generally absent from eels taken in the lower reaches of large rivers such as the rhine (thielen et al 2007), the thames (Norton et al 2003(Norton et al , 2004) and the tiber , and from slow flowing rivers in Belgium (Schabuss et al 1997) and the Netherlands (Borgsteede et al 1999). the absence of the parasite from some large lakes in central Europe, for example in Austria (schabuss et al 2005) and Hungary (Molnár and Székely 1995), may reflect the fact that the eels were not native to the lakes but were restocked into them as elvers which did not harbour the parasite: additionally many of these lakes are shallow and productive and would not provide the right habitat for the intermediate hosts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accidental species are not included. All British localities are listed in Kennedy and guégan (1996) with the addition of those listed in Kennedy et al (1998), Kennedy (2001 and Norton et al (2003Norton et al ( , 2004. All marine lagoons are listed in Køie (1988a), Kennedy et al (1997), Di cave et al (2001) and outeiral et al (2002.…”

Section: Dispersion Pattern In Infrapopulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whilst helminth infracommunities of eels may be relatively poor, component communities can be quite rich and comprise both specialist and generalist species (Kennedy and guégan 1996, Norton et al 2003, 2004. some of these appear to be widespread and common throughout the host's range but others appear to have restricted geographical distributions and a few of these might be considered rare.…”

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Can a specialist parasite species of a widespread and common host species be rare? The case of Spinitectus inermis (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae) in eels Anguilla anguilla

Kennedy¹

2012

FOLIA PARASIT

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rarity is an intuitive concept that is widely applicable and easy to recognise, but which is very difficult to define (Gaston 1994). In reality it is a relative term describing one end of a spectrum with common at the other end. When rarity is discussed in relation to biological communities it is almost invariably with reference to free-living species and in the context of biodiversity and conservation. Moreover, recognising that a species is rare frequently provokes measures for its protection. the question of whether a parasite species may be rare has seldom, if ever, been addressed. this may be due in part to feelings that issues of conservation and protection of parasites are not important and in part to a belief that only common and pathogenic parasite species have an important role in structuring communities of free-living organisms. Nevertheless, parasite rarity merits attention in its own right. it is becoming increasingly clear that parasites can impact on their hosts in very subtle ways; for example by manipulating intermediate host behaviour and so food webs (Poulin 1994, 2007, Moore 2002 and by facilitating the co-existence of competing host species thereby maintaining species diversity (larsen et al. 2011) and so structuring host communities (Fenton and Brockhurst 2008).in this context it is clearly important to determine not only whether a parasite species has an impact on its host but also whether a parasite species is rare. there is no a priori reason to assume that parasite species cannot also be aligned along the rare-common spectrum.recognition that a species is rare requires that its habitat be well known and studied across the geographical range of the species and preferably also that there be long-term studies on the species. When applying this concept to a parasite species, this means that the host(s), both definitive and intermediate, should have been identified and studied over their ranges; that the whole parasite community in each of its hosts has been fully censused and that the systematics of the species is not problematical. it is often tacitly assumed that a parasite species that is rare in one locality will be common in another, but this can only be confirmed or refuted if there are sufficient investigations throughout the range of the host(s) and parasite.one of the few species of host and parasite to meet these stringent requirements are the European eel, Anguilla anguilla (l.), and its parasite community. the eel is naturally widespread throughout Western Europe in rivers, lakes and coastal lagoons, and its range has been extended to landlocked inland waters by stocking and farming. Because of its commercial interest its parasite fauna is well known and has been studied throughout its range. this is particularly true of the gastro-intestinal Can a specialist parasite species of a widespread and common host species be rare? The case of Spinitectus inermis (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae) in eels Anguilla anguilla Clive R. Kennedy school of Biological sciences, Hatherly laboratories,...

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“…When doing parasitological research in the field, species with infrequent occurrence and/or low intensity are routinely observed (Bush and Holmes, 1986;Norton et al 2003;Poulin, 2007a;Kennedy, 2012). While such rarely found species are noticed only when large outbreaks occur (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial aggregation in small spring-fed tributaries leads to a potential metapopulation structure in a parasitic fish leech

et al. 2017

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Large-bodied ectoparasites are often observed only in low numbers in the field. How such rarely found parasites persist and maintain viable populations has been an intriguing question inadequately addressed. The simplest hypothesis is the existence of distribution hot spots, and another, but not mutually exclusive, possibility is a form of metapopulation structure where local populations are effectively connected via dispersal. In this study, we conducted an intensive epidemiological survey of a piscicolid leech Taimenobdella amurensis to elucidate spatial population structure and potential dispersal of this rarely found parasite. Four years of potential-host screening (n = 20 664) from 28 tributaries and 10 main stem reaches in a mountain river system of Hokkaido, northern Japan, revealed that occurrences of T. amurensis (n = 1348) were confined to spring-fed tributaries. Since most spring-fed tributaries were small (<1 km in length), it would seem to be unlikely for the ectoparasite to form a persistent local population in each tributary. The main host fish was Dolly Varden charr, which is known to disperse among neighbouring tributaries. These findings suggest that, along with the host, the ectoparasite displays a potential metapopulation structure, in which host-dependent dispersion may overcome local extinction by keeping the local populations connected.

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Parasite infracommunity diversity in eels: a reflection of local component community diversity

Cited by 13 publications

References 19 publications

Linking species abundance distributions and body size in monogenean communities

Linking species abundance distributions and body size in monogenean communities

Can a specialist parasite species of a widespread and common host species be rare? The case of Spinitectus inermis (Nematoda: Cystidicolidae) in eels Anguilla anguilla

Spatial aggregation in small spring-fed tributaries leads to a potential metapopulation structure in a parasitic fish leech

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