Weak link between dispersal and parasite community differentiation or immunogenetic divergence in two sympatric cichlid fishes

Hablützel, Pascal I.; Grégoir, Arnout; Vanhove, Maarten Pieterjan; Volckaert, Filip; Raeymaekers, Joost

doi:10.1111/mec.13833

“…The relationship between parasite infection and host trophic ecology might be confounded by 250 geographic variation in parasite abundance and host-parasite co-evolutionary interactions (Bell & 251 Burt, 1991;Stutz et al, 2014). Acanthocephala infections do indeed vary across the study area 252 (Raeymaekers et al, 2013;Hablützel et al, 2016; this study) but we found the confounding effect of 253 geography to be of little importance compared to the main host species effect. Ultimately, parasite 254 load will not only be influenced by ecological (exposure to propagules) but also evolutionary 255 (parasite virulence and host susceptibility) factors.…”

Section: Foraging Ecology Predicts Parasite Infection 233mentioning

confidence: 58%

Parasite escape through trophic specialization in a species flock

Hablützel

¹

,

Vanhove

²

,

Deschepper

³

et al. 2017

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

24In adaptive radiations species diversify rapidly to occupy an array of ecological niches. In these 25 different niches, species might be exposed to parasites through different routes and at different 26 levels. If this is the case, adaptive radiations should be accompanied by a turnover in parasite 27 communities. How the adaptive radiation of host species might be entangled with such a turnover of 28 parasite communities is poorly documented in nature. In the present study, we examined the 29 intestinal parasite faunas of eleven species belonging to the tribe Tropheini, one of several adaptive 30 radiations of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika. The most parsimonious ancestral foraging strategy 31 among Tropheini is relatively unselective substrate ingestion by browsing of aufwuchs. Certain 32 lineages however evolved more specialized foraging strategies, such as selective combing of 33 microscopic diatoms or picking of macro-invertebrates. We found that representatives of such 34 specialized lineages bear reduced infection with intestinal acanthocephalan helminths. Possibly, the 35 evolution of selective foraging strategies entailed reduced ingestion of intermediate invertebrate 36hosts of these food-web transmitted parasites. In Tropheini, trophic specialization is therefore 37 intertwined with divergence in parasite infection. We conclude that the study of parasite 38 communities could improve our understanding of host evolution, ecological speciation and the origin 39 of adaptive radiations. 40 41

show abstract

“…() and Hablutzel et al . () for examples from species‐rich communities). However, there are no comprehensive studies yet of parasitism in young adaptive radiations with replicated pairs of closely related sympatric species of variable degree of differentiation within the same evolutionary lineage of hosts (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The first prerequisite of parasite‐mediated divergent selection in natural populations is that infections differ between diverging host populations. Currently, there is a growing body of literature describing differentiated parasite infections in ecotypes or closely related species particularly in freshwater fishes (Knudsen et al ., , ; MacColl, ; Eizaguirre et al ., ; Natsopoulou et al ., ; Karvonen et al ., ,b, ) including cichlid fishes (Blais et al ., ; Maan et al ., ; Raeymaekers et al ., ; Hablutzel et al ., , ). Overall, these studies suggest that conditions for parasite‐mediated divergent selection between ecological niches are not uncommon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent parasite infections in sympatric cichlid species in Lake Victoria

Karvonen

¹

,

Wagner

²

,

Selz

³

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parasitism has been proposed as a factor in host speciation, as an agent affecting coexistence of host species in species-rich communities and as a driver of post-speciation diversification. Young adaptive radiations of closely related host species of varying ecological and genomic differentiation provide interesting opportunities to explore interactions between patterns of parasitism, divergence and coexistence of sympatric host species. Here, we explored patterns in ectoparasitism in a community of 16 fully sympatric cichlid species at Makobe Island in Lake Victoria, a model system of vertebrate adaptive radiation. We asked whether host niche, host abundance or host genetic differentiation explains variation in infection patterns. We found significant differences in infections, the magnitude of which was weakly correlated with the extent of genomic divergence between the host species, but more strongly with the main ecological gradient, water depth. These effects were most evident with infections of Cichlidogyrus monogeneans, whereas the only host species with a strictly crevice-dwelling niche, Pundamilia pundamilia, deviated from the general negative relationship between depth and parasitism. In accordance with the Janzen-Connell hypothesis, we also found that host abundance tended to be positively associated with infections in some parasite taxa. Data on the Pundamilia sister species pairs from three other islands with variable degrees of habitat (crevice) specialization suggested that the lower parasite abundance of P. pundamilia at Makobe could result from both habitat specialization and the evolution of specific resistance. Our results support influences of host genetic differentiation and host ecology in determining infections in this diverse community of sympatric cichlid species.

show abstract

“…Both intestinal and ectoparasites tended to be more abundant at Toby's Place and less abundant at Cape Kanwankoko. Geographical variation in parasite communities for two species of tropheine cichlids within the same study area has been reported earlier ( Tropheus moorii Boulenger 1898 and Simochromis diagramma (Günther 1894); Raeymaekers et al ., ; Hablützel et al ., ). Such variation may reflect local dynamics of spatially independent parasite populations or differences in abundances of intermediate or alternative hosts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Parasite escape through trophic specialization in a species flock

Hablützel

¹

,

Vanhove

²

,

Deschepper

³

et al. 2017

J of Evolutionary Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

24In adaptive radiations species diversify rapidly to occupy an array of ecological niches. In these 25 different niches, species might be exposed to parasites through different routes and at different 26 levels. If this is the case, adaptive radiations should be accompanied by a turnover in parasite 27 communities. How the adaptive radiation of host species might be entangled with such a turnover of 28 parasite communities is poorly documented in nature. In the present study, we examined the 29 intestinal parasite faunas of eleven species belonging to the tribe Tropheini, one of several adaptive 30 radiations of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika. The most parsimonious ancestral foraging strategy 31 among Tropheini is relatively unselective substrate ingestion by browsing of aufwuchs. Certain 32 lineages however evolved more specialized foraging strategies, such as selective combing of 33 microscopic diatoms or picking of macro-invertebrates. We found that representatives of such 34 specialized lineages bear reduced infection with intestinal acanthocephalan helminths. Possibly, the 35 evolution of selective foraging strategies entailed reduced ingestion of intermediate invertebrate 36hosts of these food-web transmitted parasites. In Tropheini, trophic specialization is therefore 37 intertwined with divergence in parasite infection. We conclude that the study of parasite 38 communities could improve our understanding of host evolution, ecological speciation and the origin 39 of adaptive radiations. 40 41

show abstract

Weak link between dispersal and parasite community differentiation or immunogenetic divergence in two sympatric cichlid fishes

Cited by 23 publications

References 100 publications

Parasite escape through trophic specialization in a species flock

Parasite escape through trophic specialization in a species flock

Divergent parasite infections in sympatric cichlid species in Lake Victoria

Parasite escape through trophic specialization in a species flock

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About