Microhabitat distributions and species interactions of ectoparasites on the gills of cichlid fish in Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F21%3A00120993" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/21:00120993 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.09.001" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.09.001</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.09.001" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.09.001</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Microhabitat distributions and species interactions of ectoparasites on the gills of cichlid fish in Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Original language description

Heterogeneous exposure to parasites may contribute to host species differentiation. Hosts often harbour multiple parasite species which may interact and thus modify each other’s effects on host fitness. Antagonistic or synergistic interactions between parasites may be detectable as niche segregation within hosts. Consequently, the within-host distribution of different parasite taxa may constitute an important axis of infection variation among host populations and species. We investigated the microhabitat distributions and species interactions of gill parasites (four genera) infecting 14 sympatric cichlid species in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. We found that the two most abundant ectoparasite genera (the monogenean Cichlidogyrus spp. and the copepod Lamproglena monodi) were non-randomly distributed across the host gills and their spatial distribution differed between host species. This may indicate microhabitat selection by the parasites and cryptic differences in the host–parasite interaction among host species. Relationships among ectoparasite genera were synergistic: the abundances of Cichlidogyrus spp. and the copepods L. monodi and Ergasilus lamellifer tended to be positively correlated. In contrast, relationships among morphospecies of Cichlidogyrus were antagonistic: the abundances of morphospecies were negatively correlated. Together with niche overlap, this suggests competition among morphospecies of Cichlidogyrus. We also assessed the reproductive activity of the copepod species (the proportion of individuals carrying egg clutches), as it may be affected by the presence of other parasites and provide another indicator of the species specificity of the host–parasite relationship. Copepod reproductive activity did not differ between host species and was not associated with the presence or abundance of other parasites, suggesting that these are generalist parasites, thriving in all cichlid species examined from Lake Victoria.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

International Journal for Parasitology

ISSN

0020-7519

e-ISSN

1879-0135

Volume of the periodical

51

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2-3

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

14

Pages from-to

201-214

UT code for WoS article

000617786000009

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85097070039