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Density-dependent effects on Anguillicola crassus (Nematoda) within its European eel definitive host

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

S. T. ASHWORTH
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK
C. R. KENNEDY
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK

Abstract

Density-dependent effects on adult and larval stages of the introduced nematode parasite Anguillicola crassus in the European eel definitive host were examined in the laboratory in naturally infected fish, and in field samples. The effect of adult nematode subpopulations on larval development over time and the effect of increasing adult intensity on the gravid female subpopulations were investigated. At high adult subpopulations the movement of larvae from the swimbladder wall into the swimbladder lumen appears to be inhibited, and A. crassus larvae to be arrested in development in a density-dependent manner. The number of gravid females per host reaches a constant level, and so the proportion of gravid female nematodes per adult subpopulation decreases relative to further increasing total adult nematode numbers. Both these mechanisms have the potential to regulate infrapopulations of A. crassus within the eel definitive host and thus the parasite suprapopulation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1999 Cambridge University Press

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