The acanthocephalan parasite Polymorphus minutus alters the geotactic and clinging behaviours of two sympatric amphipod hosts: the native Gammarus pulex and the invasive Gammarus roeseli

Abstract

Acanthocephala are parasites with complex life cycles involving arthropod intermediate hosts and vertebrate final hosts. They use predation as a means of transmission, and some species have developed the ability to modify behaviour of their intermediate hosts to enhance the probability of ingestion by the definitive host. Knowledge of how a single parasite species is adapted to modify the behaviour of different intermediate host species is important for the understanding of parasitic transmission in host communities. In Burgundy, the freshwater amphipod crustaceans Gammarus pulex (native species) and Gammarus roeseli (eastern European invader) are both intermediate hosts for the acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus. The influence of this bird parasite on the geotaxis of G. roeseli was evaluated and it was found that when infected, individuals of this host species have a negative geotaxis compared to uninfected individuals. There were two components to the behavioural changes: swimming to the top of the water column, and clinging to surface material. These changes were comparable to those observed in the local host species G. pulex, but lower in magnitude. This result contrasts with a previous study on the influence of the fish parasite Pomphorhynchus laevis, which is able to alter the native species' behaviour, but not that of the invasive host. Parasite adaptations to local vs invasive intermediate host species are discussed in terms of their dispersal range (i.e. dispersal of their definitive hosts): the wider the dispersal, the greater should be the spectrum of intermediate hosts.