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Species richness in helminth communities: the importance of multiple congeners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. R. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK
A. O. Bush
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6A9, Canada

Summary

Using data sets derived from published literature, the contribution of congeneric species to helminth component community richness is evaluated. Consideration of the frequency distribution of congeners in relation to host and parasite groups reveals that the distributions are unimodal, that singletons are the commonest class and that the frequency of occurrence of congeners decreases with increasing number of species per genus. Congeners may be found in any group of hosts or parasites, but are more common amongst cestodes of aquatic birds. Two patterns of occurrence of congeneric species are recognized: one in which from a few to multiple congeners are found within a single helminth genus, exemplified by dactylogyrid monogeneans and cloacinid nematodes, and the other in which there is a simultaneous occurrence of congenerics and confamilials such that there are several genera involved, but each represented by fewer species, exemplified by strongyles in horses. The question of whether these patterns can be considered examples of species flocks is discussed. We conclude that multiple congeners and species flocks are interesting phenomena but, except in isolated cases, they make insignificant contributions to community richness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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