Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:35:28.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The population dynamics of metacercariae of Apatemon gracilis (Trematoda: Digenea) in three species of lake-dwelling leeches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

S. M. Spelling  and
J. O. Young
S. M. Spelling
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX
J. O. Young
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Monthly samples of the leeches Erpobdella octoculata, Glossiphonia complanata and Helobdella stagnalis were taken over a two-year period from an eutrophic, English lake to detect metacercariae of the trematode, Apatemon gracilis. In each cohort of each of the three leeches, prevalence was low in young individuals, rose to a peak in autumn/winter, and then declined until the cohort had almost died out; in E. octoculata and H. stagnalis a final brief increase occurred. Mean intensity and relative density values followed a similar seasonal pattern of change to that of prevalence in these last two species, but in G. complanata values fluctuated irregularly with no distinct pattern. The frequency distribution of the parasite in G. complanata was highly over-dispersed, but less so in the other two species. Infected E. octoculata reached sexual maturity. The parasite reduced egg production in G. complanata and H. stagnalis, but only by maximum values of 2·5 and 9% respectively. This reduction in fecundity is low compared to the subsequent high mortality, at 95% or more, of newly recruited young from as yet unidentified causes. Parasite-related host mortality was difficult to assess in young leeches, but there was some evidence for its occurrence in older leeches of E. octoculata and H. stagnalis. However, this is unlikely to play a prominent role in the control and regulation of lacustrine leech populations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 93 , Issue 3 , December 1986 , pp. 517 - 530
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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

Anderson, R. M. & Gordon, D. M. (1982). Processes influencing the distribution of parasite numbers within host populations with special emphasis on parasite-induced host mortalities. Parasitology 85, 373–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayanov, M. G. & Kussaya, N. A. (1972). Leeches in the Bashkir, ASSR, as intermediate hosts of bird helminths. Trudy¯ Bashkirskogo sel'skokhozyaistvennogo instituta 17, 33–45. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Canning, E. U., Cox, F. E. G., Croll, N. A. & Lyons, K. M. (1973). The natural history of Slapton Ley Nature Reserve. VI: Studies on the parasites. Field Studies 3, 681–718.Google Scholar
Dobrowolski, K. A. (1958). Parasites of leeches of Druzno Lake. Acta parasitologica polonica 6, 179–94. (In Polish.)Google Scholar
Elliott, J. M. (1977). Some methods for the statistical analysis of samples of benthic invertebrates. Freshwater Biological Association Scientific Publications 25, 1–160.Google Scholar
Erasmus, D. A. (1972). The Biology of Trematodes. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Gordon, D. M. & Rau, M. E. (1982). Possible evidence for mortality induced by the parasite Apatemon gracilis in a population of brook sticklebacks (Culaea inconstans). Parasitology 84, 41–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iles, C. (1960). The larval trematodes of certain freshwater molluscs. II. Experimental studies on the life-cycle of two species of Furcocercariae. Parasitology 50, 401–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Margolis, L., Esch, G. W., Holmes, J. C., Kuris, A. M. & Schad, G. A. (1982). The use of ecological terms in parasitology (report of an ad hoc committee of the American Society of parasitologists). Journal of Parasitology 68, 131–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, M. E. (1969). Catalogue of helminths of waterfowl (Anatidae). In Bureau of Sport, Fisherïes and Wildlife Special Scientific Report-Wildlife No. 126, pp. 1–692. Washington D.C.Google Scholar
Raishite, D. I. (1967). Peculiarities of infection of leeches with cercariae of the trematode Apatemon gracilis minor (Yamaguti, 1933). Zoologichesky Zhurnal 46, 1846–9. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Raishite, D. I. (1968 a). Infection of freshwater leeches in the Volga delta by Apatemon gracilis metacercariae. Trudÿ Astrakhanskoi Zapovednika 11, 247–54. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Raishite, D. I. (1968 b). The trematode Apatemon gracilis (Rud. 1819) Szidat 1928 (Strigedeidae). Trudy¯ Gel'mintologicheskoi laboratorii Akademiya nauk SSR 19, 154–63. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Raishite, D. I. (1969). The degree of metacercarial infection of freshwater leeches in the Volga and Neman deltas. Problemy Parazitologiya 1, 196–9. (In Russian.)Google Scholar
Randall, S. M. L., Spelling, S. M. & Young, J. O. (1985). The inter- and intra-habitat distribution of leeches in a eutrophic English lake. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 103, 419–44.Google Scholar
Reynolds, C. S. (1979). The limnology of the eutrophic meres of the Shropshire-Cheshire plain. Field Studies 5, 93–173.Google Scholar
Spelling, S. M. & Young, J. O. (1985). Parasites of British, lake-dwelling leeches. The Naturalist 110, 133–40.Google Scholar
Spelling, S. M. & Young, J. O. (1986). Predation on lake-dwelling leeches (Hirudinea): an evaluation by field experiment. Journal of Animal Ecology (in the Press.)Google Scholar
Vojtek, J., Opravilova, V. & Vojtek, L. (1967). The importance of leeches in the life-cycle of the order Strigeidida (Trematoda). Folia Parasitologica Praha 14, 107–19.Google Scholar
Young, J. O. (1981). A serological study of the diet of British, lake-dwelling Glossiphonia complanata (L.) (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae). Journal of Natural History 15, 475–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar