Impact of a mouth parasite in a marine fish differs between geographical areas

Sala-Bozano, Maria, van Oosterhout, Cock ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5653-738X and Mariani, Stefano (2012) Impact of a mouth parasite in a marine fish differs between geographical areas. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 105 (4). pp. 842-852. ISSN 0024-4066

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Abstract

Considerable variation exists in parasite virulence and host tolerance which may have a genetic and/or environmental basis. In this article, we study the effects of a striking, mouth-dwelling, blood-feeding isopod parasite (Ceratothoa italica) on the life history and physiological condition of two Mediterranean populations of the coastal fish, Lithognathus mormyrus. The growth and hepatosomatic index (HSI) of fish in a heavily human-exploited population were severely impacted by this parasite, whereas C. italica showed negligible virulence in fish close to a marine protected area. In particular, for HSI, the parasite load explained 34.4% of the variation in HSI in the exploited population, whereas there was no significant relationship (0.3%) between parasite load and HSI for fish in the marine protected area. Both host and parasite populations were not differentiated for neutral genetic variation and were likely to exchange migrants. We discuss the role of local genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity, and how deteriorated environmental conditions with significant fishing pressure can exacerbate the effects of parasitism. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 105, 842–852.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Funding information: This research was funded by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology under the EMBARK Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme RS2005120. Additional travel support was provided by the Networking and Training Initiative of the Marine Institute of Ireland.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 14 - life below water ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Depositing User:	Katherine Humphries
Date Deposited:	26 Feb 2013 12:06
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2024 08:51
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/41582
DOI:	10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01838.x

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