Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:26:04.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Responses of the fish ectoparasite Salmincola edwardsii (Copepoda) to stimulation, and their implication for host-finding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R. Poulin ,
M. A. Curtis  and
M. E. Rau
R. Poulin
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 1CO
M. A. Curtis
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 1CO
M. E. Rau
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Macdonald College of McGill University, 21 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 1CO
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The short-lived infective copepodid stages of the copepod Salmincola edwardsii, ectoparasitic on brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, are under strong selective pressure to evolve efficient host-finding mechanisms. In laboratory experiments, we quantified the effects of visual and mechanical stimulation on the activity of the copepodids. We found that shadows passing above the copepodids and shock waves passing through the water generated marked increases in the rate and length of upward swimming bursts, which resulted in more time spent suspended in the water column and greater distances travelled. However, we found no strong evidence for a relationship between the magnitude of the copepodids' response and the intensity of stimulation. Although these responses are not host-specific, they allow the parasites to conserve their limited energy stores by increasing their host-finding activity only when potential hosts are nearby.

Keywords

Salmincolaparasitic copepodhost-finding
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 100 , Issue 3 , June 1990 , pp. 417 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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

Cohen, L. M., Neimark, H. & Eveland, L. K. (1980). Schistosoma mansoni: responses of cercariae to a thermal gradient. Journal of Parasitology 66, 362–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fasten, N. (1921). Studies on parasitic copepods of the genus Salmincola. American Naturalist 55, 449–56.Google Scholar
Joyner, S. P. (1986). SAS/STATTM Guide for Personal Computers, 6th Edn.Cary, North Carolina: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Kabata, Z. (1981). Copepoda (Crustacea) parasitic on fishes: problems and perspectives. Advances in Parasitology 19, 1–71.Google Scholar
Kabata, Z. & Cousens, B. (1973). Life cycle of Salmincola californiensis (Dana 1852) (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae). Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 30, 881–903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabata, Z. & Cousens, B. (1977). Host-parasite relationships between sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, and Salmincola californiensis (Copepoda: Lernaeopodidae). Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34, 191–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearn, G. C. (1980). Light and gravity responses of the oncomiracidium of Entobdella soleae and their role in host location. Parasitology 81, 71–89.Google Scholar
Kearn, G. C. (1986). Role of chemical substances from fish hosts in hatching and host-finding in monogeneans. Journal of Chemical Ecology 12, 1651–8.Google Scholar
Prechel, D. P. & Nollen, P. M. (1979). The effects of miracidial aging and dilution of snail-conditioned water on responses of miracidia of Megalodiscus temperatus. Journal of Parasitology 65, 446–50.Google Scholar
Roberts, T. M., Ward, S. & Chernin, E. (1979). Behavioral responses of Schistosoma mansoni miracidia in concentration gradients of snail- conditioned water. Journal of Parasitology 65, 41–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saladin, K. S. (1979). Behavioural parasitology and perspectives on miracidial host-finding. Zeitschrzft für Parasitenkunde 60, 197–210.Google Scholar
Schram, T. A. & Anstensrud, M. (1985). Lernaeenicus sprattae (Sowerby) larvae in the Oslofjord plankton and some laboratory experiments with the nauplius and copepodid (Copepoda, Pennellidae). Sarsia 70, 127–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sukhdeo, M. V. K. & Mettrick, D. F. (1987). Parasite behaviour: understanding platyhelminth responses. Advances in Parasitology 26, 73–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitfield, P. J., Pilcher, M. W., Grant, H. J. & Riley, J. (1988). Experimental studies on the development of Lernaeocera branchialis (Copepoda: Pennellidae): population processes from egg production to maturation on the flatfish host. Hydrobiologia 167/168, 579–86.Google Scholar