Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T09:41:53.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ambient fauna impairs parasite transmission in a marine parasite-host system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2008

D. W. THIELTGES ,
M. D. BORDALO ,
A. CABALLERO HERNÁNDEZ ,
K. PRINZ  and
K. T. JENSEN
D. W. THIELTGES*
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Finlandsgade 14, DK-8200 Aarhus, Denmark
M. D. BORDALO
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Finlandsgade 14, DK-8200 Aarhus, Denmark
A. CABALLERO HERNÁNDEZ
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Finlandsgade 14, DK-8200 Aarhus, Denmark
K. PRINZ
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Wadden Sea Station Sylt, Hafenstrasse 43, 25992 List, Germany
K. T. JENSEN
Affiliation:
Marine Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Finlandsgade 14, DK-8200 Aarhus, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Zoology, University of Otago P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

To understand possible factors controlling transmission of trematode larvae between first and second intermediate hosts we examined the impact of ambient fauna on parasite transmission in a marine intertidal parasite-host association. Cockle hosts (Cerastoderma edule) kept together with selected co-occurring macrozoobenthic species in mesocosms acquired a lower parasite load compared to cockles kept alone, when targeted by cercariae of the trematode Himasthla elongata. The reduction of parasite load in the cockles differed between the 7 macrozoobenthic species tested and was between 35 and 91%. Three different types of reduction could be distinguished: (1) predators (Carcinus maenas, Crangon crangon) actively preying upon cercariae, (2) non-host filter feeders (Crepidula fornicata, Mya arenaria, Crassostrea gigas) filtering cercariae but not becoming infected and (3) alternative hosts (Mytilus edulis, Macoma balthica) becoming infected by the cercariae and thus distracting cercariae from the target hosts. In addition, interference competition may occur in the form of disturbance of cockles by ambient organisms resulting in lower filtration rates and subsequently lower parasite loads. Our results suggest that the species composition and relative abundance of the ambient fauna of parasite-host systems play an important role in controlling trematode transmission rates in benthic marine systems.

Keywords

transmissiontrematodescercariaedilution effect
Type
Original Articles
Information
Parasitology , Volume 135 , Issue 9 , August 2008 , pp. 1111 - 1116
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cheng, T. C., Schuster, C. N. and Anderson, A. H. (1966). A comparative study of the susceptibility and response of eight species of marine pelecypods to trematode Himasthla quissetensis. Transactions of the American Microscopial Society 85, 284–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, N. O. (1979). Schistosoma mansoni: interference with cercarial host-finding by various aquatic organisms. Journal of Helminthology 53, 7–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Montaudouin, X., Kisielewski, I., Bachelet, G. and Desclaux, C. (2000). A census of macroparasites in an intertidal bivalve community, Arcachon Bay, France. Oceanologica Acta 23, 453–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diederich, S., Nehls, G., van Beusekom, J. and Reise, K. (2005). Introduced Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in the northern Wadden Sea: invasion accelerated by warm summers? Helgoland Marine Research 59, 97–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, K., Castro, N. and Bachelet, G. (1999). Infectivity of Himasthla spp. (Trematoda) in cockle (Cerastoderma edule) spat. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 79, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keesing, F., Holt, R. D. and Ostfeld, R. S. (2006). Effects of species diversity on disease risk. Ecology Letters 9, 485–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khan, R. A. and Thulin, J. (1991). Influence of pollution on parasites of aquatic animals. Advances in Parasitology 30, 201–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krakau, M., Thieltges, D. W. and Reise, K. (2006). Native parasites adopt introduced bivalves of the North Sea. Biological Invasions 8, 919–925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lafferty, K. D. (1997). Environmental parasitology: what can parasites tell us about human impact on the environment? Parasitology Today 13, 251–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauckner, G. (1983). Diseases of Mollusca: Bivalvia. In Diseases of Marine Animals Vol. 2 Introduction, Bivalvia to Scaphopoda (ed. Kinne, O.), pp. 477–961. Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Hamburg, Germany.Google Scholar
Marcogliese, D. J. (2005). Transmission of marine parasites. In Marine Parasitology (ed. Rohde, K., pp. 280–286. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxon, UK.Google Scholar
Mouritsen, K. N. and Poulin, R. (2002). Parasitism, community structure and biodiversity in intertidal ecosystems. Parasitology 124, S101–S117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mouritsen, K. N. and Poulin, R. (2003). The mud flat anemone-cockle association: mutualism in the intertidal zone? Oecologia 135, 131–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nybakken, J. W. (1997). Marine Biology:an Ecological Approach. Addison Wesley Longman Inc., Menlo Park, Ca, USA.Google Scholar
Ostfeld, R. S. and Keesing, F. (2000). The function of biodiversity in the ecology of vector-borne zoonotic diseases. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78, 2061–2078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pietrock, M. and Marcogliese, D. J. (2003). Free-living endohelminth stages: at the mercy of environmental conditions. Trends in Parasitology 19, 293–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pihl, L. (1985). Food selection and consumption of mobile epibenthic fauna in shallow marine areas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 22, 169–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pihl, L. and Rosenberg, R. (1984). Food selection and consumption of the shrimp Crangon crangon in some shallow marine areas in western Sweden. Marine Ecology Progress Series 15, 159–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin, R. (2006). Global warming and temperature-mediated increases in cercarial emergence in trematode species. Parasitology 132, 134–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reise, K., Herre, E. and Sturm, M. (1994) Biomass and abundance of macrofauna in intertidal sediments of Königshafen in the northern Wadden Sea. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen 48, 201–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell-Pinto, F., Gonçalves, J. F. and Bowers, E. (2006). Digenean larvae parasitizing Cerastoderma edule (Bivalvia) and Nassarius reticulatus (Gastropoda) from Ria de Aveiro, Portugal. Journal of Parasitology, 92, 319–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thieltges, D. W., Krakau, M., Andresen, H., Fottner, S. and Reise, K. (2006). Macroparasite community in molluscs of a tidal basin in the Wadden Sea. Helgoland Marine Research 60, 307–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D. W. and Reise, K. (2006). Metazoan parasites in intertidal cockles Cerastoderma edule from the northern Wadden Sea. Journal of Sea Research 56, 284–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D. W. and Reise, K. (2007). Spatial heterogeneity in parasite infections at different scales in an intertidal bivalve. Oecologia, 150, 569–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thieltges, D. W., Strasser, M. and Reise, K. (2003). The American slipper limpet Crepidula fornicata (L.) in the northern Wadden Sea 70 years after its introduction. Helgoland Marine Research 57, 27–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werding, B. (1969). Morphologie, Entwicklung und Ökologie digener Trematoden-Larven der Strandschnecke Littorina littorea. Marine Biology 3, 306–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, B. (1953). Über den Nahrungserwerb der Calyptraeidae (Gastropoda Prosobranchia). Helgoländer wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 4, 260–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar