The role of zooplankton in the transmission of helminth parasites to fish

Infestation of zooplankton with Triaenophorus and Proteocephalus procercoids (Cestoda) in a deep oligotrophic lake

“…2). These findings are in accordance with other studies where highest rates of copepod infections were found in late spring and summer (Sysoev, 1987;Marcogliese, 1995;Hanzelova and Gerdeaux, 2003). Due to parasite-controlled changes in the phototactic behaviour of the first intermediate host (Pulkkinen et al, 2000), we expected to find more infested copepods in the upper depth range of the two sampling depth ranges.…”

“…Apart from C. abyssorum, the calanoid copepod E. gracilis was infested in low numbers with pro- (Kuperman, 1981). In total, 21 cyclopoid vs 3 calanoid copepod species are known to be infested with T. crassus (Marcogliese, 1995). In the Austrian Lake Fuschlsee, one single Triaenophorus procercoid out of 140 was found in an E. gracilis individual, while the remaining procercoids were observed in C. abyssorum (Sichrowsky et al, 2013).…”

“…1). Moreover, cyclopoid copepods are considered to be omni/carnivore and feed raptorially, which might further affect the capacity of transmission (Marcogliese, 1995). Despite the similar appearance and size range of pseudophyllidean coracidia and ciliates, which serve as food source for crustaceans like copepods (Wiackowski et al, 1994), only little work has been done to examine whether copepods can distinguish between prey items or not and how the parasite uptake is affected by other food (Pasternak et al, 1999).…”

“…Climate change, especially temperature change and its associated changes in other parameters, can potentially lead to alterations in the parasite fauna and host distribution, thereby also affecting parasite transmission (Marcogliese, 2001). Besides these changes, also artificial modifications can have effects on the transmission from copepod to fish, for instance, the destruction of the littoral zone in the course of reservoir building that forces the whitefish to shift their diet towards copepods (Petersson, 1971;Marcogliese, 1995), which may result in the accumulation of parasites. In Lake Achensee, water level fluctuations might affect the feeding behaviour of whitefish and subsequent parasite infestation at least to some extent.…”

Metazoan parasites of the jack mackerelTrachurus murphyi(Teleostei, Carangidae) in a latitudinal gradient from South America (Chile and Peru)

“…The sample size, along the seven ports was high and similar, so the well known effect of sample size and sample effort (Guegán & Kennedy, 1996) is excluded. The importance of benthic and plantonic organisms on the transmission of parasites has been discussed by Marcogliesse (1995) and Jackson et al (1997). A low diversity of the pelagic and benthic systems has been proposed as an explanation for the poor parasite fauna of fishes from this area (Oliva & Luque, 1998).…”