Evol Ecol Res 17: 335-354 (2016)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Dynamics of parasite community during early ontogenesis
of marine threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

E.V. Rybkina¹, A.S. Demchuk^1,2, D.L. Lajus², T.S. Ivanova², M.V. Ivanov² and K.V. Galaktionov^1,2

¹Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg, Russia and  ²St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia 

Correspondence: E.V. Rybkina, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia. email: onebat@yandex.ru

ABSTRACT

Hypothesis: Parasite infection of juvenile stickleback increases during their early ontogenesis owing to transmission from adults and other juveniles, as well as changes in diet.

Organisms: Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) aged one week to two months, their ecto- and endoparasites, and their stomach contents.

Times and places: July to September 2012 and 2015; two locations in the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea – Seldyanaya Inlet with dense seagrass beds and an unnamed lagoon in Sukhaya Salma Inlet.

Methods: Quantitative sampling of stickleback at 10 day intervals, and quantitative analysis of their parasites and stomach contents.

Results: As sticklebacks grew, their parasite load increased. We identified three size groups of stickleback that differ significantly in their parasite species composition and infection indices: hatchlings 7.0–8.5 mm long were infected with three parasite species (prevalence 43%); juveniles 9–11 mm harboured four or five species (100%); and juveniles 12–30 mm were infected by 12 species (100%). As stickleback grew, copepods played an increasing role in their diet, and infection with trematodes and cestodes rose accordingly.

Keywords: feeding, Gasterosteus aculeatus, juveniles, parasites, threespine stickleback, White Sea.

DOWNLOAD A FREE, FULL PDF COPY
IF you are connected using the IP of a subscribing institution (library, laboratory, etc.)
or through its VPN.

 

        © 2016 Elena V. Rybkina. All EER articles are copyrighted by their authors. All authors endorse, permit and license Evolutionary Ecology Ltd. to grant its subscribing institutions/libraries the copying privileges specified below without additional consideration or payment to them or to Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. These endorsements, in writing, are on file in the office of Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. Consult authors for permission to use any portion of their work in derivative works, compilations or to distribute their work in any commercial manner.

       Subscribing institutions/libraries may grant individuals the privilege of making a single copy of an EER article for non-commercial educational or non-commercial research purposes. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also use articles for non-commercial educational purposes by making any number of copies for course packs or course reserve collections. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also loan single copies of articles to non-commercial libraries for educational purposes.

       All copies of abstracts and articles must preserve their copyright notice without modification.