scholarly journals The tapeworm Ligula intestinalis (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) inhibits LH expression and puberty in its teleost host, Rutilus rutilus

Reproduction ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 939-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Carter ◽  
R Pierce ◽  
S Dufour ◽  
C Arme ◽  
D Hoole
Keyword(s):  
Pituitary Gland ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Gonadal Development ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Ligula Intestinalis ◽  
The Brain

The tapewormLigula intestinalisoccurs in the body cavity of its cyprinid second intermediate host, in this study the roachRutilus rutilus, and inhibits host gonadal development. The mechanism by which infected fish are prevented from reproducing is unknown. Comparison of parameters, such as body length and weight, and condition factor and age, between infected and uninfected individuals, indicated only minor effects of parasitism on growth and condition. In contrast, seasonal gonadal development, as observed in uninfected fish, did not occur in infected fish, and gonads remained small and blocked at the primary oocyte stage in female roach. As immature ovaries and testes are still present, the parasite is presumed to act upon the brain–pituitary–gonadal axis of the fish to inhibit further development of reproductive organs. We investigated theLigula/fish interaction at the level of the pituitary gland by determination of gonadotrophin (LH) content using a heterologous RIA for carp (Cyprinus carpio) LHβ subunit. The results indicated that the pituitary glands of infected roach contained approximately 50% less LH than non-infected fish. After the cloning and sequencing of roach LHβ subunit, we measured roach LHβ mRNA levels by real-time RT-PCR. A corresponding 50% reduction in LHβ mRNA pituitary levels was determined. These results reflect a significant and measurable effect of parasitism on the pituitary gland, and lend support to the hypothesis that excretory/secretory products released from the parasite interact with the brain–pituitary–gonadal axis of the fish host and thus inhibit gonadal development.

Influence of Ligula intestinalis plerocercoids (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) on the occurrence of eyeflukes in roach (Rutilus rutilus) from a lake in south-east England

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.J. Morley ◽  
J.W. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
Helminth Species ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Ligula Intestinalis ◽  
Freshwater Habitats ◽  
Concurrent Infections ◽  
South East England

AbstractVertebrate hosts commonly harbour concurrent infections of different helminth species which may interact with each other in a synergistic, antagonistic or negligible manner. Direct interactions between helminths that share a common site in the host have been regularly reported, but indirect interactions between species that occur in different sites are rarely described, especially in fish hosts. Plerocercoids of Ligula intestinalis are common infections of the peritoneal (body) cavity of roach (Rutilus rutilus) in freshwater habitats. These larval cestodes can cause extensive systemic pathologies to the fish host, which in turn may alter its susceptibility as a target host for other helminth species. The present study, using an existing dataset, investigates the influence of L. intestinalis (ligulosis) on frequently occurring eyefluke infections in roach sampled from a lake in south-east England. The occurrence of two species of eyefluke (Diplostomum sp. and Tylodelphys sp.) in the roach population demonstrated no significant levels of interaction with each other. The prevalence but not mean intensity or abundance of Diplostomum sp. was significantly increased in ligulosed roach, while the incidence of Tylodelphys sp. remained unchanged. Analyses of bilateral asymmetry in the occurrence of eyeflukes in left and right eyes of infected fish demonstrate that Tylodelphys sp. shows significant asymmetry in non-ligulosed roach, which is not replicated in ligulosed individuals. In contrast, Diplostomum sp. shows no evidence of asymmetry in either ligulosed or non-ligulosed fish.

Host manipulation by Ligula intestinalis: accident or adaptation?

Parasitology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. BROWN ◽  
G. LOOT ◽  
B. T. GRENFELL ◽  
J. F. GUÉGAN
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
Host Manipulation ◽  
Ligula Intestinalis ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Effect Hypothesis ◽  
The Impact

Numerous studies have demonstrated that parasites with complex life-cycles can cause phenotypic modifications in their hosts that lead to an increased rate of transmission, and suggest that these modifications are the result of parasitic adaptations to manipulate the host. Little attention is paid, however, to separating the possibility of adaptive host manipulation from incidental (if fortuitous) side-effects of infection. In this study we combine statistical and analytical tools to interpret the impact of the macroparasite Ligula intestinalis L. (Cestoda, Pseudophyllidea) on the behaviour of its intermediate fish host (the roach, Rutilus rutilus L.), using field data on a natural system. Two distinct sets of generalized linear models agree that both the presence and the intensity of infection contribute to a modified behavioural response in the host. This was illustrated by a preference for the lake-edge in infected fish during autumn. Furthermore, the effect of parasites upon their host is heterogeneous with respect to parasite size, with larger parasite individuals having a disproportionate impact. A series of game-theoretic models of adaptive host manipulation illustrate a potential rationale for a size-dependent manipulation strategy in parasites. These findings illustrate the potential complexity and functionality of the impact of L. intestinalis upon its fish host, which together reduce the parsimony of the alternative ‘incidental effect’ hypothesis.

The Effect of Schistocephalus Solidus (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) On the Foraging and Shoaling Behaviour of Three-Spined Sticklebacks, Gasterosteus Aculeatus

Behaviour ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 1223-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Barber ◽  
Felicity A. Huntingford
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Work ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
The Body ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Schistocephalus Solidus ◽  
Shoaling Behaviour

AbstractIn this paper we review recent experimental work on the effects of the parasite Schistocephalus solidus (Cestoda: Pseudophyllidea) on the feeding behaviour of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.). We also discuss how increased feeding motivation and subsequent altered foraging behaviour may be a mechanism for parasite-associated changes in the shoaling behaviour of infected sticklebacks. The presence of S. solidus plerocercoids in the body cavity constricts the stomach, increases the handling time for large prey and consequently reduces the profitability of such prey for infected fish. This is reflected in a switch in dietary preference from large to small prey in the laboratory and in altered stomach contents and impaired nutrient reserves in the wild. By altering their hosts' nutritional state by direct competition for nutrients from digested food (and possibly indirectly by altering diet and reducing competitive ability) and also by altering the fishes' appearance, such parasites have the potential to alter the costs and benefits involved in joining a shoal of conspecifics. Experimental work on the shoaling decisions of S. solidus-infected sticklebacks supports this hypothesis, and such behavioural modification is discussed in the context of the manipulation hypothesis of parasite transmission.

scholarly journals The intracranial vascular system of sphenodon

1909 ◽  
Vol 81 (548) ◽  
pp. 290-291 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Vessels ◽  
Vascular System ◽  
Foramen Magnum ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cephalic Vein ◽  
Special Method ◽  
Cranial Cavity ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

This memoir contains a detailed description, with illustrations, of the intracranial blood-vessels of the Tuatara, of which no account has hitherto been published. The description is belived to be more complete than any hithero given for any reptile, and a considerable number of vessels are described which have not hithero been noted in Lacertilia. This comparative completeness of detail is largely due to the employment of a special method of investigation. By this method the entire contents of the cranial cavity are fixed and hardened in situ , and are then in excellent condition either for dissection or for histological purposes. The brain does not occupy nearly the whole of the cranial cavity, there being a very large subdural space (especially above the brain), across which many of the blood-vessels run, together with delicate strands of connective tissue which connect the dura mater with pia. The eyeballs are removed and an incision is made on each side in the cartilaginous wall which separates the cranial cavity from the orbit. Acetic bichromate of potash (made up according to the formula given by Bolles Lee) is injected in to the cranial cavity through these incision, and the entire animal, after opening the body cavity, is suspended in a large volume of the same fluid for about five days, and then graded up to 70 per cent. Alcohol. When the cranial cavity is now opened up the cerebral vessels are seen with extraordinary distinctness, although they have not been artifically injected. Futher details were made out by means of serial sections, both transverse and longitudinal, and both of the adult and of advanced embroyes (Stage S). In most respect the arrangement of the intracranical blood-vessels agrees with found in the Lacertilia, so far as these have been investigated, but there is an important difference in the fact that the posterior cephalic vein leaves the cranial cavity through the foramen jugulare and not through the foramen magnum, while a slightly more primitive condition is shown in the less complete union of the right and left halves of the basilar artery. Sphenodon makes some approach to the condition of the Chelonia in this latter respect, but differs conspicuously from this group in the fact that the circle of Willis is not completed anteriorly, as well as in the fact that no branch of the posterior cephalic vein leaves the cranial cavity through the foreman magnum. A very characteristic features of Sphenodon is the development of large transverse sinues resembling those of the crocodile, but these communicate with the extracranial vascular system in quite a different manner from that described by Rathke in the latter animal.

Experimental demonstration of a behavioural modification in a cyprinid fish, Rutilus rutilus (L.), induced by a parasite, Ligula intestinalis (L.)

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraldine Loot ◽  
Stéphane Aulagnier ◽  
Sovan Lek ◽  
Frédéric Thomas ◽  
Jean-François Guégan
Keyword(s):  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Experimental Demonstration ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Ligula Intestinalis ◽  
Behavioural Changes ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Behavioural Modification ◽  
Avian Predators ◽  
The Vertical Distribution

Behavioural changes in parasitized hosts have been experimentally investigated by comparing the swimming behaviour of roach, Rutilus rutilus, infected by the tapeworm Ligula intestinalis with that of uninfected roach when they were exposed to the same overhead heron stimulus. Before the stimulus was presented, infected fish swam close to the surface and uninfected fish were preferentially found near the bottom of the tank. The stimulus clearly induced a change in the vertical distribution of infected fish only. On the other hand, infected roach were less active than un infected fish before, during, and after the stimulus was presented. Proximate mechanisms of these behavioural changes are discussed. These behavioural differences, i.e., roach surfacing, swimming, and response to stimulus, probably favour the predation of infected roach by avian predators.

Experimental transfer of Anisakis sp. larvae (Nematoda: Ascaridida) from one fish host to another

1974 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
John. W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Salmo Salar ◽  
Recovery Rate ◽  
Pyloric Caecum ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
The Body ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Merlangius Merlangus

AbstractBatches of 10 Anisakis larvae from Greenland salmon (Salmo salar) were labelled with radioiodcin and fed to 10 haddock (Melanogrammus aegiefimis). Similar batches of larvae from herring (Clupea harengus) were fed to 8 whiting (Merlangius merlangus). At post-mortem from 15 to 190 hours after infection, 0 to 6 larvae were recovered from whiting (over-all recovery rate 18.8%) and 0 to 4 larvae were recovered from haddock (over-all recovery rate 27%). Larvae penetrated the wall of the stomach or of a pyloric caecum. They were first seen in the body-cavity 24 hours after infection and a delicate capsule was present around some of them by 34 hours. Most larvae were recovered from the body-cavity but, in haddock, two had penetrated the epaxial musculature.

The life-history of Archigetes limnodrili (Yamaguti) (Cestoda: Caryophyllaeidae) and its development in the invertebrate host

Parasitology ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
The Body ◽  
Invertebrate Host ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Nature Conservancy ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

The development of Archigetes limnodrili in species of Limnodrilus is described. There is no free-living larva and eggs are ingested by the tubificids. Growth and development is completed within the body cavity of the annelid, and egg liberation is accomplished by release of the parasite and decay of its body.Breeding of A. limnodrili takes place throughout the year. In the localities investigated there was no evidence that a fish host was required in the life-cycle. Progenesis was the only type of development encountered in Britain.A. limnodrili exhibits an unusual degree of host specificity, being found only in species of Limnodrilus. It is suggested that this is due to differences in the composition of the coelom or intestine of Limnodrilus compared to other genera.The degree of infection in all localities is very low, and shows no regular seasonal variation. There is no similarity in the seasonal changes in different localities.The relationship between the host and parasite is a stable one, and there is little mutual damage. Factors contributing to this stability are discussed.The development of A. limnodrili is compared with that of other species of Archigetes, and the life-history discussed with particular reference to the phenomenon of progenesis.I wish to thank Professor R. J. Pumphrey in whose Department this work was carried out, and Dr J. C. Chubb for his constant advice and criticism. I also wish to thank Dr K. H. Mann and the University of Reading for provision of specimens and permitting me the use of their facilities. The work was carried out during the tenure of a Nature Conservancy Research Studentship.

Changes in Maturity, Plasma Sex Steroid Levels, Hepatic Mixed-Function Oxygenase Activity, and the Presence of External Lesions in Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) Exposed to Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 1560-1569 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Munkittrick ◽  
M. E. McMaster ◽  
C. B. Portt ◽  
G. J. Van Der Kraak ◽  
I. R. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Gonadal Development ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Liver Size ◽  
Kraft Mill Effluent ◽  
Kraft Mill ◽  
Mixed Function Oxygenase

Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) exposed to primary treated bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) had reduced gonadal development and increased liver size relative to two reference populations. These results parallel our previous work on the white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) exposed to BKME at the same Lake Superior site. More detailed studies conducted in 1990, after the installation of an aeration stabilization basin at the pulp mill, found that lake whitefish exhibited reduced gonad sizes, delayed age to maturation, decreased levels of the plasma sex steroids testosterone and 17β-estradiol, and elevated hepatic mixed-function oxygenase (MFO) activity. Liver size was smaller following operation of the secondary treatment system. More than 20% of the lake whitefish collected at the BKME site in 1990 exhibited lateral, slash-like lesions which penetrated the body cavity. Histological examination revealed no evidence of an infectious etiology, and the wounds could not be accounted for by known causes. Similar lesions were found in 1991 near a second BKME discharge.

Endocrine effects of the tapeworm Ligula intestinalis in its teleost host, the roach (Rutilus rutilus)

Parasitology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 697-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. GERAUDIE ◽  
C. BOULANGE-LECOMTE ◽  
M. GERBRON ◽  
N. HINFRAY ◽  
F. BRION ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Reproductive Function ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Gonad Maturation ◽  
Aromatase Activity ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Ligula Intestinalis ◽  
Brain Aromatase

SUMMARYThe effects of parasite infection by the cestode Ligula intestinalis on the reproductive function and endocrine system of wild roach Rutilus rutilus were evaluated. Gonad maturation, plasma vitellogenin, plasma steroid concentrations (i.e. progesterone, 11-keto-testosterone and 17-β-estradiol) and brain aromatase activity were investigated in relation with parasitization. A low prevalence (8%) of ligulosed roach and a moderate impact of parasitization (mean parasitization index of 8·8%) were found in the studied population. Inhibition of gonad maturation generally resulted from infestation but 5% of the ligulosed roach nevertheless reached maturity. Main sex steroid plasma content was depleted in both genders. Male 11-keto-testosterone, female 17-β-estradiol and progesterone plasma concentrations of both genders were, respectively, 27, 5 and 3 times lower in ligulosed fish when compared to their non-infected counterparts. Progesterone levels were negatively correlated with the parasitization index in females. Brain aromatase activity of infected roach was reduced to 50% of that of the non-infected fish. These results demonstrate significant negative effects on the reproductive function of wild roach infected by the tapeworm L. intestinalis collected from a site with low contamination.

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