Parasite load, rather than parasite presence, decreases upstream movement in Trinidadian guppies Poecilia reticulata.

Autor: Blondel L; Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Université de Lorraine, Metz, France., Klemet-N'Guessan S; Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada., Hendry AP; Redpath Museum and Biology Department, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada., Scott ME; Institute of Parasitology, McGill University (Macdonald Campus), Ste-Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of fish biology [J Fish Biol] 2024 Jul; Vol. 105 (1), pp. 177-185. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 29.
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15771
Abstrakt: Several factors influence whether an organism remains in its local habitat. Parasites can, for example, influence host movement by impacting their behavior, physiology, and morphology. In rivers, fish that swim efficiently against the current are able to maintain their position without being displaced downstream, a behavior referred to as positive rheotaxis. We hypothesized that both the presence and number of ectoparasites on a host would affect the ability of fish to avoid downstream displacement and thus prevent them from remaining in their habitat. We used the guppy-Gyrodactylus host-ectoparasite model to test whether parasite presence and parasite load had an effect on fish rheotaxis. We quantified rheotaxis of sham-infected and parasite-infected fish in a circular flow tank in the laboratory prior to infection and 5-6 days postinfection. Both parasite-infected and sham-infected individuals expressed similar levels of positive rheotaxis prior to infection and after infection. However, with increasing parasite numbers, guppies covered less distance in the upstream direction and spent more time in slower flow zones. These results suggest that higher numbers of Gyrodactylus ectoparasites negatively influence rheotactic movements. Further research is needed to understand the ecological and evolutionary implications of this ectoparasite on fish movement.
(© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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