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Size relationships between the parasitic copepod, Lernanthropus cynoscicola, and its fish host, Cynoscion guatucupa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2005

J. T. TIMI  and
A. L. LANFRANCHI
J. T. TIMI
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Parasitología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Funes 3350, (7600) Mar del Plata, Argentina
A. L. LANFRANCHI
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Parasitología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Funes 3350, (7600) Mar del Plata, Argentina
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Abstract

The effects of the size of Cynoscion guatucupa on the size and demographic parameters of their parasitic copepod Lernanthropus cynoscicola were evaluated. Prevalence of copepods increased with host size up to fish of intermediate length, then it decreased, probably because changes in size of gill filaments affect their attachment capability, enhancing the possibility of being detached by respiratory currents. Body length of copepods was significantly correlated with host length, indicating that only parasites of an ‘adequate’ size can be securely attached to a fish of a given size. The absence of relationship between the coefficient of variability in copepod length and both host length and number of conspecifics, together with the host-size dependence of both male and juvenile female sizes, prevent to interpret this relationship as a phenomenon of developmental plasticity. Therefore, the observed peak of prevalence could reflect the distribution of size frequencies in the population of copepods, with more individuals near the average length. Concluding, the ‘optimum’ host size for L. cynoscicola could merely be the adequate size for most individuals in the population, depending, therefore, on a populational attribute of parasites. However, its location along the host size range could be determined by a balance between fecundity and number of available hosts, which increases and decreases, respectively, with both host and parasite size.

Keywords

Lernanthropus cynoscicolaCynoscion guatucupahost sizeparasite size
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 132 , Issue 2 , February 2006 , pp. 207 - 213
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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