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Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta)
Predation and parasitism are two of the most important sources of mortality in nature. By forming groups, individuals can gain protection against predators but may increase their risk of being infected with contagious parasites. Animals might resolve this conflict by forming mixed-species groups the...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577744/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23437237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056789 |
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author | Dargent, Felipe Torres-Dowdall, Julián Scott, Marilyn E. Ramnarine, Indar Fussmann, Gregor F. |
author_facet | Dargent, Felipe Torres-Dowdall, Julián Scott, Marilyn E. Ramnarine, Indar Fussmann, Gregor F. |
author_sort | Dargent, Felipe |
collection | PubMed |
description | Predation and parasitism are two of the most important sources of mortality in nature. By forming groups, individuals can gain protection against predators but may increase their risk of being infected with contagious parasites. Animals might resolve this conflict by forming mixed-species groups thereby reducing the costs associated with parasites through a relative decrease in available hosts. We tested this hypothesis in a system with two closely related poeciliid fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) and their host-specific monogenean ectoparasites (Gyrodactylus spp.) in Trinidad. Fish from three different rivers were sampled from single and mixed-species groups, measured and scanned for Gyrodactylus. The presence and abundance of Gyrodactylus were lower when fish of both species were part of mixed-species groups relative to single-species groups. This is consistent with the hypothesis that mixed-species groups provide a level of protection against contagious parasites. We discuss the importance of potentially confounding factors such as salinity and individual fish size. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3577744 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-35777442013-02-22 Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) Dargent, Felipe Torres-Dowdall, Julián Scott, Marilyn E. Ramnarine, Indar Fussmann, Gregor F. PLoS One Research Article Predation and parasitism are two of the most important sources of mortality in nature. By forming groups, individuals can gain protection against predators but may increase their risk of being infected with contagious parasites. Animals might resolve this conflict by forming mixed-species groups thereby reducing the costs associated with parasites through a relative decrease in available hosts. We tested this hypothesis in a system with two closely related poeciliid fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) and their host-specific monogenean ectoparasites (Gyrodactylus spp.) in Trinidad. Fish from three different rivers were sampled from single and mixed-species groups, measured and scanned for Gyrodactylus. The presence and abundance of Gyrodactylus were lower when fish of both species were part of mixed-species groups relative to single-species groups. This is consistent with the hypothesis that mixed-species groups provide a level of protection against contagious parasites. We discuss the importance of potentially confounding factors such as salinity and individual fish size. Public Library of Science 2013-02-20 /pmc/articles/PMC3577744/ /pubmed/23437237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056789 Text en © 2013 Dargent et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Dargent, Felipe Torres-Dowdall, Julián Scott, Marilyn E. Ramnarine, Indar Fussmann, Gregor F. Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title | Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title_full | Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title_fullStr | Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title_full_unstemmed | Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title_short | Can Mixed-Species Groups Reduce Individual Parasite Load? A Field Test with Two Closely Related Poeciliid Fishes (Poecilia reticulata and Poecilia picta) |
title_sort | can mixed-species groups reduce individual parasite load? a field test with two closely related poeciliid fishes (poecilia reticulata and poecilia picta) |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577744/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23437237 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056789 |
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