Abstract
We compared the shoaling behaviour of three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, infected with the microsporidian, Glugea anomala, to that of non-infected conspecifics. Infected fish lost significantly more weight than non-infected fish during a period of food deprivation, suggesting a metabolic cost to parasitism. In binary shoal choice tests, non-infected test fish showed an association preference for a shoal of non-infected over a shoal of infected conspecifics; infected test fish displayed no preference. Infected fish, however, showed a higher overall tendency to shoal than non-parasitised fish. Furthermore, infected fish occupied front positions within a mixed school. We consider the behavioural differences between infected and uninfected fish in the context of their potential benefits to the fish hosts and the parasites.
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Ward, A.J.W., Duff, A.J., Krause, J. et al. Shoaling behaviour of sticklebacks infected with the microsporidian parasite, Glugea anomala . Environ Biol Fish 72, 155–160 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-9078-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-004-9078-1