Risk of parasitism and microhabitat selection in juvenile sticklebacks

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Poulin ◽  
Gerard J. FitzGerald
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Microhabitat Selection ◽  
Intensity Of Infection ◽  
Microhabitat Distribution

In laboratory experiments, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) that juvenile threespine (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and blackspotted (Gasterosteus wheatlandi) sticklebacks face higher risks of parasitism by the ectoparasite Argulus canadensis in shallow, vegetated microhabitats and (ii) that they can alter their microhabitat distribution in response to parasites. Reducing water depth increased the number of parasites per infected fish in G. aculeatus and increased the percentage of G. wheatlandi infected. For both species, intensity of infection and percentage of fish infected were greater among fish inhabiting vegetated microhabitats than among fish living in open microhabitats. In the absence of fish, A. canadensis swam near the bottom and in the vegetation. Fish of both species swam near the bottom in the absence of the parasites, but swam near the surface in the presence of parasites. Without parasites, both species of fish preferred to swim in vegetation. With parasites present, the spatial distribution of G. aculeatus changed only slightly, whereas G. wheatlandi became evenly distributed between open and vegetated microhabitats. These results suggest that microhabitat selection by juvenile sticklebacks may serve to reduce the risk of parasitism.

Host mortality and variability in epizootics of Schistocephalus solidus infecting the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Parasitology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 137 (11) ◽  
pp. 1681-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. HEINS ◽  
E. L. BIRDEN ◽  
J. A. BAKER
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Intensity Of Infection ◽  
Host Fish ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Second Intermediate Host ◽  
Host Mortality ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Host Behaviour

SUMMARYAn analysis of the metrics of Schistocephalus solidus infection of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in Walby Lake, Alaska, showed that an epizootic ended between 1996 and 1998 and another occurred between 1998 and 2003. The end of the first epizootic was associated with a crash in population size of the stickleback, which serves as the second intermediate host. The likely cause of the end of that epizootic is mass mortality of host fish over winter in 1996–1997. The deleterious impact of the parasite on host reproduction and increased host predation associated with parasitic manipulation of host behaviour and morphology to facilitate transmission might also have played a role, along with unknown environmental factors acting on heavily infected fish or fish in poor condition. The second epizootic was linked to relatively high levels of prevalence and mean intensity of infection, but parasite:host mass ratios were quite low at the peak and there were no apparent mass deaths of the host. A number of abiotic and biotic factors are likely to interact to contribute to the occurrence of epizootics in S. solidus, which appear to be unstable and variable. Epizootics appear to depend on particular and, at times, rare sets of circumstances.

An experimental study of microhabitat selection and microhabitat shifts in European tadpoles

1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Waringer-Löschenkohl
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
The Other ◽  
Avoidance Reaction ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Microhabitat Selection ◽  
Pelobates Fuscus ◽  
Microhabitat Distribution ◽  
Species Combination

The presence or absence of heterospecific tadpoles or of vegetation and changes in population density influenced the microhabitat distribution of 5 sympatric tadpole species in laboratory experiments. Most species, except Hyla a. arborea, occupied the bottom of the aquaria. In some experiments the presence of vegetation caused a significant shift in the tadpole distribution towards the water surface. The presence of Pelobates fuscus, especially under higher density had a similar effect on tadpole distributions. In most species-combination tests one or both species shifted their distribution pattern due to the presence of the other species. In many cases this behaviour can be interpreted as spatial avoidance reaction especially in species which feed in the same water column in the field (Löschenkohl, 1986). The significance of microhabitat shifts as a mechanism to avoid competition is discussed.

Effects of constant and fluctuating temperatures on egg production in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1599-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vital Boulé ◽  
Gerard J. Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
Spawning Grounds ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
Fluctuating Temperatures

Female threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) spend only 9–15 days on the spawning grounds, an intertidal salt marsh at Isle Verte, Quebec, during a 2-month breeding season. Individuals average only one spawning. However, in the laboratory they lay clutches of several hundred eggs every 3–5 days for several months. We designed laboratory experiments to determine (i) whether daily temperature fluctuations similar to those encountered in the marsh affect reproduction (number of clutches, number of eggs per clutch, and size of eggs) and (ii) whether the amplitude of the fluctuations encountered by the fish affects reproduction. We compared the reproduction of females held in fluctuating temperatures with that of females kept at 20 °C. Fish kept under fluctuating conditions produced more eggs per clutch but had longer interspawning intervals than those at 20 °C. Total seasonal egg production and egg size did not differ between the two groups. Fish in fluctuating temperatures survived longer and were in better condition than those at 20 °C. We conclude that the amplitude of the fluctuations is less important than mean temperature in determining reproductive performance. Fluctuating temperatures on the spawning grounds are not responsible for the short residency there.

scholarly journals Do algae blooms dilute the risk of trematode infections in threespine sticklebacks?

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 991-995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Budria ◽  
Ulrika Candolin
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
The Body ◽  
Filamentous Algae ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Diplostomum Pseudospathaceum ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Trematode Infections ◽  
Macro Algae

Abstract Human-induced growth of macro-algae is often assumed to increase trematode infections in fishes by increasing the abundance and condition of the parasite’s intermediate host – snails – as this can boost the release of trematode larvae, cercariae, from the intermediate hosts. However, macro-algae can also impose barriers to the transmission of cercariae and reduce infections. We investigated whether an increased growth of filamentous algae affects the transmission of Diplostomum pseudospathaceum cercariae to the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, a common fish in eutrophied shallow waters. We exposed sticklebacks to trematode cercariae in the absence and presence of artificial filamentous algae, and recorded effects on the proportion of sticklebacks infected and the number of encysted metacercariae per fish. No significant effect of artificial algae on cercariae transmission was detected. However, the body size and the sex of the sticklebacks were strongly correlated with the number of encysted metacercariae per infected fish, with females and larger individuals being more infected. We discuss different factors that could have caused the difference in parasite transmission, including sex-related differences in body size and behaviour of sticklebacks.

scholarly journals Parasitism of Cichlasoma paranaense Kullander, 1983 and Gymnotus carapo Linnaeus, 1814 by Clinostomum complanatum (Rudolphi, 1814) Metacercariae in the Taquari river

2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Silva-Souza ◽  
G. Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Condition Factor ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Yellow Spot ◽  
Total Weight ◽  
Intensity Of Infection ◽  
Mean Intensity ◽  
Spot Disease ◽  
Relative Condition Factor ◽  
Clinostomum Complanatum

The infection, known as yellow spot disease, produced by metacercariae of Clinostomum spp. was studied in fishes of the Taquari river, located in Jataizinho, Paraná State, Brazil. A total of 1,582 specimens, belonging to 36 species, were collected between March 1999 and April 2001. Yellow spot disease was observed only in Gymnotus carapo Linnaeus, 1814 (Gymnotiformes, Gymnotidae) and Cichlasoma paranaense Kullander, 1983 (Perciformes, Cichlidae). This parasitism was generated by metacercariae of Clinostomum complanatum (Rudolphi, 1814) (Digenea, Clinostomidae). Among the 88 specimens of G. carapo examined, 7 (prevalence = 8%) had cysts of the parasite. Four of them were captured in July 1999 and three in October 1999. In the other months, no specimen found was infected. Using relative condition factor (Kn) analysis, it was determined that both infected and non-infected specimens had a total weight equal to the theoretically expected value for each total length (Kn = 1.0). Among 56 individuals of Cichlasoma paranaense, 6 (prevalence = 10.7%) had between 1 and 27 metacercariae of C. complanatum (mean intensity of infection = 9.3 ± 9.6). In March 1999 and April of both 2000 and 2001, the specimens examined were not infected. The infected fish had a total weight higher than the expected value (Kn > 1.0), while the non-infected fish had a weight equal to the expected value (Kn = 1.0).

The consequences of self-fertilization and outcrossing of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus in its second intermediate host

Parasitology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. CHRISTEN ◽  
M. MILINSKI
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate Host ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Mixed Mating ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Self Fertilization ◽  
Second Intermediate Host

Many hermaphroditic parasites reproduce by both cross-fertilization and self-fertilization. To understand the maintenance of such mixed mating systems it is necessary to compare the fitness consequences of the two reproductive modes. This has, however, almost never been done in the context of host–parasite coevolution. Here we show the consequences of outcrossing and selfing in an advanced life-stage of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus, i.e. in its second intermediate host, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Each juvenile stickleback was simultaneously exposed to 2 experimentally infected copepods, one harbouring outcrossed the other selfed parasites. At 60 days p.i. parasites were removed from the fish's body cavity and, with microsatellite markers, assigned to either outcrossed or selfed origin. Prevalence was not significantly higher in outcrossed parasites. However, those fish that were infected contained significantly more outcrossed than selfed parasites. Thus the probability of a selfed parasite to progress in the life-cycle is reduced in the second intermediate host. Furthermore, we found that even the multiply infected fish increased in weight during the experiment. Nevertheless, total worm weight in multiply infected fish was significantly lower than in singly infected ones, which thus might be a parasite life-history strategy.

Unsteady flow in straight alluvial streams: modification of individual dunes

1979 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen Fredsøe
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Bed Load ◽  
Shear Distribution ◽  
Model Flow ◽  
Phase Differences

Changes in dune properties due to a sudden change in the water discharge are analysed. The transport of sediment is assumed to occur mainly as bed load and the square of the Froude number must be much smaller than unity. The theory is based on similarity in the bed-shear distribution close to the dune top just before and just after the change in the water discharge. The model is found to agree with laboratory experiments. Further, by use of this model, flow in a river where the water discharge oscillates weakly around a constant mean value has been treated. Hereby the variation in the phase differences between sediment transport, water depth and water discharge with the period of the oscillation is calculated. The results agree qualitatively with observations.

The first large-scale assessment of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) biomass and spatial distribution in the Baltic Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1653-1665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Olsson ◽  
Eglė Jakubavičiūtė ◽  
Olavi Kaljuste ◽  
Niklas Larsson ◽  
Ulf Bergström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bothnian Sea

Abstract Declines in predatory fish in combination with the impact of climate change and eutrophication have caused planktivores, including three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), to increase dramatically in parts of the Baltic Sea. Resulting impacts of stickleback on coastal and offshore foodwebs have been observed, highlighting the need for increased knowledge on its population characteristics. In this article, we quantify abundance, biomass, size structure, and spatial distribution of stickleback using data from the Swedish and Finnish parts of the Baltic International Acoustic Survey (BIAS) during 2001–2014. Two alternative methods for biomass estimation suggest an increase in biomass of stickleback in the Baltic Proper, stable or increasing mean size over time, and larger individuals toward the north. The highest abundance was found in the central parts of the Baltic Proper and Bothnian Sea. The proportion of stickleback biomass in the total planktivore biomass increased from 4 to 10% in the Baltic Proper and averaged 6% of the total planktivore biomass in the Bothnian Sea. In some years, however, stickleback biomass has ranged from half to almost twice that of sprat (Sprattus sprattus) in both basins. Given the recent population expansion of stickleback and its potential role in the ecosystem, we recommend that stickleback should be considered in future monitoring programmes and in fisheries and environmental management of the Baltic Sea.

scholarly journals Development of fragility curves for railway embankment and ballast scour due to overtopping flood flow

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2455-2472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryota Tsubaki ◽  
Jeremy David Bricker ◽  
Koji Ichii ◽  
Yoshihisa Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Single Track ◽  
Damage Probability ◽  
Log Normal ◽  
Damage Type ◽  
Flood Flow

Abstract. Fragility curves evaluating a risk of railway embankment fill and track ballast scour were developed. To develop fragility curves, two well-documented events of single-track railway washout during floods in Japan were investigated. Type of damage to the railway was categorized into no damage, ballast scour, and embankment scour, in order of damage severity. Railway overtopping water depth for each event was estimated based on well-documented hydrologic and hydraulic analyses. Normal and log-normal fragility curves were developed based on damage probability derived from field records and the estimated overtopping water depth. A combined ballast and embankment scour model was validated by comparing the results of previous studies and the spatial distribution of railway damage type records.

scholarly journals Spatial and temporal distribution of gerrid (Heteroptera) and predation on microcrustaceans from a tropical shallow lake

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Domingos ◽  
M. S. Arcifa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Ingestion Rate ◽  
Aquatic Insect ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Distribution ◽  
Population Fluctuations ◽  
Size Selectivity ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Adult Insect

Abstract Predator-prey interactions involving an aquatic insect and zooplanktonic prey of different sizes were investigated to quantify prey mortality exposed to predators. Laboratory experiments were undertaken with the young and adult gerrid Rheumatobates crassifemur to test predation and size selectivity on the cladocerans Daphnia gessneri, Ceriodaphnia richardi, and Bosmina tubicen. Population fluctuations and spatial distribution of the gerrid were also evaluated in a small and shallow Brazilian lake throughout 12 months in fortnightly samples. The insects were more abundant in the littoral (mean density 7.0 ± 1.2 ind.m–2) compared to the limnetic zone. The period with the highest densities was late January to June, in both zones. Predation by young instars on Daphnia and Ceriodaphnia was significant (mean ingestion rate of 1.3 ± 0.1 D. gessneri and 0.7 ± 0.1 C. richardi per predator per hour). Adult insect fed only the large-sized prey (mean ingestion rate of 1.0 ± 0.1 D. gessneri per predator per hour). Young gerrids have greater potential to prey on cladocerans than adults, and size selectivity occurred for both predators. Preference of adults by the larger prey is probably related to difficulties in manipulating smaller planktonic prey, such as Ceriodaphnia. Due to higher densities of insects in the littoral, higher predation on zooplankton in this zone is expected. This study does contribute to a better understanding of trophic interactions in tropical shallow lakes and is the first to investigate predation of a gerrid on cladocerans in laboratory experiments.

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