Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T04:54:27.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Co-existence of congeneric species of Acanthocephala: Acanthocephalus lucii and A. anguillae in eels Anguilla anguilla in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. R. Kennedy  and
C. Moriarty
C. R. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, The University, Exeter EX4 4PS
C. Moriarty
Affiliation:
Department of Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry, Fisheries Research Centre, Abbotstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A population of eels Anguilla anguilla from Lough Derg, R. Shannon, Ireland, harbouring infections of both Acanthocephalus lucii and A. anguillae was studied over three years. Both parasite species had the same intermediate host and eels appeared to be the only definitive host for A. anguillae. Throughout the whole period, A. lucii was the dominant parasite, was over-dispersed throughout the eel population and most frequently occurred as a single species infection. A. anguillae was far less common, its dispersion was close to random at most times and it almost invariably occurred as a mixed species infection. The proportions of the two species remained fairly constant over the period. Despite some indication of site selection in the intestine, the distribution of both species overlapped considerably and there was no evidence of competitive displacement of one species by the other or of resource partitioning in space. The life-histories of both species were similar: they infected eels, bred and were lost from fish at the same time of year and there was no indication of resource partitioning in time. Congeneric species of acanthocephalans can thus co-exist in apparently stable equilibrium in fish as predicted and without any evidence of interactions, but it is still considered that exploitation competition between the species may be occurring in eels.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 95 , Issue 2 , October 1987 , pp. 301 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andryuk, L. V. (1979). The cycle of development of Acanthocephalus anguillae. Zoological Zhurnal 63, 168–74.Google Scholar
Bush, A. O. & Holmes, J. C. (1986). Intestinal helminths of lesser scaup ducks: an interactive community. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64, 142–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, L. H. (1969). Competitive exclusion between two intestinal parasites of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L. Journal of Parasitology 55, 775–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chubb, J. C. (1982). Seasonal occurrence of helminths in freshwater fishes Part IV Adult Cestoda, Nematoda and Acanthocephala. Advances in Parasitology 20, 1–292.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colin, J. A., Williams, H. H. & Halvorsen, O. (1986). One or three gyrocotylideans (Platyhelminthes) in Chimaera monstrosa (Holocephali)? Journal of Parasitology 72, 10–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conneely, J. J. & McCarthy, T. K. (1984). The metazoan parasites of freshwater fishes in the Corrib catchment area, Ireland. Journal of Fish Biology 24, 363–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conneely, J. J. & McCarthy, T. K. (1986). Ecological factors influencing the composition of the parasite fauna of the European eel. Anguilla anguilla. (L.), in Ireland. Journal of Fish Biology 28, 207–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, D. W. T. (1973). The sites occupied by some parasitic helminths in the alimentary tract of vertebrates. Biological Reviews 48, 27–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dobson, A. P. (1985). The population dynamics of competition between parasites. Parasitology 91, 317–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grey, A. J. & Hayunga, E. G. (1980). Evidence for alternative site selection by Glaridacris laruei (Cestoidea: Caryophyllidea) as a result of interspecific competition. Journal of Parasitology 66, 371–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hair, J. D. & Holmes, J. C. (1975). The usefulness of measures of diversity, niche width and niche overlap in the analysis of helminth communities in waterfowl. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 23, 253–69.Google Scholar
Holmes, J. C. (1973). Site selection by parasitic helminths: interspecific interactions, site segregation, and their importance to the development of helminth communities. Canadian Journal of Zoology 51, 333–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kane, M. B. (1966). Parasites of Irish fishes. Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, B 1, 205–20.Google Scholar
Kennedy, C. R. (1966). The helminth parasites of some Irish freshwater fish. Irish Naturalists' Journal 15, 196–9.Google Scholar
Kennedy, C. R. (1984). The dynamics of a declining population of the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus clavula in eels Anguilla anguilla in a small river. Journal of Fish Biology 25, 665–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, C. R. (1985). Site segregation by species of Acanthocephala in fish, with special reference to eels, Anguilla anguilla. Parasitology 90, 375–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, K. & Gibson, D. (1970). Ecological studies of some parasites of plaice, Pleuronectes platessa (L.), and flounder, Platichthys flesus (L.). Symposia of the British Society for Parasitology 8, 1–42.Google Scholar
Margolis, L., Esch, G. W., Holmes, J. C., Kuris, A. M. & Schad, G. A. (1982). The use of ecological terms in parasitology. (Report of an ad hoc committee of the American Society of Parasitologists.) Journal of Parasitology 68, 131–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moravec, F. (1985). Occurrence of endoparasitic helminths in eels (Anguilla anguilla (L.)) from the Macha Lake fishpond system, Czechoslovakia. Folia Parasitologica (Praha) 32, 113–25.Google Scholar
Moriarty, C. (1983). A population study of the eel Anguilla anguilla in Meelick Bay, Lough Derg. Fisheries Bulletin (Dublin) 7, 1–8.Google Scholar
Moriarty, C. (1987). Observations on the eels of Meelick Bay, Lough Derg, 1981–1984. Vie et Milieu (in the Press).Google Scholar
Øien, K. (1976). Seasonal variation of Neoechinorhynchus rutili and Acanthocephalus anguillae (Acanthocephala) in roach and ide in Lake Øyeren. Norwegian Journal of Zoology 24, 466–7.Google Scholar
Taraschewski, H. (1985). Experimental transmission of Acanthocephalus anguillae (Palaeacanthocephala). Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 71, 825–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uglem, G. L. & Beck, S. M. (1972). Habitat specificity and correlated aminopeptidase activity in the acanthocephalans Neoechinorhynchus cristatus and N. crassus. Journal of Parasitology 58, 911–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar