Abstract
Larval digenetic trematodes commonly castrate their first intermediate hosts, and should therefore impose strong selection on the timing and mode of host reproduction. Here we examine spatial variation in infection by trematodes in the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Snails were collected at 11 different sites at Lake Alexandrina on the South Island of New Zealand from transects that ran perpendicular to the shore and across several different habitat types (from 0 to 8 m deep). Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationships between the frequency of trematode infection and snail size, habitat type, and transect location. On average, the probability of infection increased 3.3 times with each 1 mm increase in shell length. Prevalence of infection by the most common species of trematode, Microphallus sp., was highest in the shallow-water habitats where its final hosts (waterflow) spend most of their time. Prevalence of infection by another parasite, Telogaster ophistorchis (final host: eels) increased with depth, but because Microphallus was much more common, total infection by all trematodes decreased with depth. The effects of transect location were minor for Telogaster, but there was significant variation in Microphallus prevalence among transects, especially in the shore-bank habitat. Taken together, these results suggest that the risk of infection is spatially variable, but generally higher in shallow-water habitats, which may explain the greater frequency of sexual individuals as well as earlier reproduction among individuals near shore.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baudoin M (1975) Host castration as parasitic strategy. Evolution 29: 335–352
Bauer G (1992) Variation in the life span and size of the freshwater pearl mussel. J Anim Ecol 61: 425–436
Blower SM, Roughgarden J (1988) Parasitic castration: host species preferences, size-selectivity and spatial heterogeneity. Oecologia 75: 512–515
Curtis LA (1987) Vertical distribution of an estuarine snail altered by a parasite. Science 235: 1509–1511
Curtis LA, Hurd LE (1983) Age, sex and parasites: spatial heterogeneity in a sandflat population of Ilyanassa obsoleta. Ecology 64: 819–829
Esch GW, Fernandez JC (1994) Snail-trematode interactions and parasite community dynamics in aquatic systems: a review. Am Midl Nat 131:209–237
Fernandez J, Esch GW (1991a) Effect of parasitism on the growth rate of the pulmonate snail Helisoma anceps. J Parasitol 77: 937–944
Fernandez J, Esch GW (1991b) Guild structure of the larval trematodes in the small Helisoma anceps: patterns and processes at the individual host level. J Parasitol 77: 528–539
Holopainen IJ (1980) Growth of two Pisidium (Bivalvia, Sphaeriidae) species in the laboratory. Oecologia 45: 104–108
Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S (1989) Applied logistic regression. Wiley, New York
Hughes RN, Answer P (1982) Growth, spawning and trematode infection of Littorina littorea (L.) from an exposed shore in North Wales. J Mollusc Stud 48: 321–330
Jokela J, Lively CM (1995) Parasites, sex and early reproduction in a mixed population of freshwater snails. Evolution (in press)
Kuris AM (1990) Guild structure of larval trematodes in molluscan hosts: prevalence, dominance and significance of competition. In: Esch GW, Bush AO, Aho JM (eds) Parasite communities: patterns and processes. Chapman and Hall, London
Lafferty KD (1993) The marine snail, Cerithidea californica, matures at smaller sizes where parasitism is high. Oikos 68: 3–11
Lively CM (1987) Evidence from a New Zealand snail for the maintenance of sex by parasitism. Nature 328: 519–521
Lively CM (1992) Parthenogenesis in a freshwater snail: reproductive assurance versus parasitic release. Evolution 46: 907–913
Lively CM, McKenzie JC (1991) Experimental infection of a fresh-water snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, with a digenetic trematode, Microphallus sp. NZ Nat Sci 18: 59–62
MacArthur CP, Featherston DW (1976) Suppression of egg production in Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae) by larval trematodes. NZ J Zool 3: 35–38
McFarlane WV (1945) The life cycle of the heterophyoid trematode Telogaster opistorchis. Trans R Soc NZ 75: 218–230
Norusis MJ (1990) SPSS advanced statistics user's guide. SPSS, Chicago
Ribi G (1986) Within-lake dispersal of the prosobranch snails, Viviparus after and Potamopyrgus jenkinsi. Oecologia 69: 60–63
Robson EM, Williams IC (1970) Relationships of some species of digenea with the marine prosobranch Littorina littorea (L.) I. The occurrence of larval digenea in L. littorea on the North Yorkshire coast. J Helmintho 44: 153–168
Rohde K (1981) Population dynamics of two snail species, Planaxis sulcatus and Cerithium moniliferum, and their trematode species at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef. Oecologia 49: 344–352
Sapp KK, Esch GW (1994) The effects of spatial and temporal heterogeneity as structuring forces for parasite communities in Helisoma anceps and Physa gyrina. Am Midl Nat 132: 91–103
Schrag SJ, Mooers AO, Ndifon GT, Read AF (1994a) Ecological correlates of male outcrossing ability in a simultaneous hermaphrodite snail. Am Nat 143: 636–655
Schrag SJ, Ndifon GT, Read AF (1994b) Temperature-determined outcrossing ability in wild populations of a simultaneous hermaphrodite snail. Ecology 75: 2066–2077
Sousa WP (1983) Host life history and the effect of parasitic castration on growth: a field study of Cerithidia californica Hadelman (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) and its trematode parasites. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 73: 273–296
Sousa WP (1993) Interspecific antagonism and species coexistence in a diverse guild of larval trematode parasites. Ecol Monogr 63: 103–128
Sousa WP (1994) Patterns and processes in communities of helminth parasites. Trends Ecol Evol 9: 4–57
Talbot JM, Ward JC (1987) Macroinvertebrates associated with aquatic macrophytes in Lake Alexandrina, New Zealand NZ J Mar Freshwater Res 21: 199–213
Taskinen J (1992) On the ecology of two Rhipidocotyle species (Digenea: Bucephalidae) from two Finnish lakes. Biol Res Rep Univ Jyväskylä 27 (Ph.D. dissertation)
Trexler JC, Travis J (1993) Nontraditional regression analyses. Ecology 74: 1629–1637
Ward J, Talbot J (1984) Distribution of aquatic macrophytes in Lake Alexandrina, NZ J Mar Freshwater Res 18: 211–220
Winterbourn MJ (1974) Larval Trematoda parasitizing the New Zealand species of Potamopyrgus (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae). Mauri Ora 2: 17–30
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jokela, J., Lively, C.M. Spatial variation in infection by digenetic trematodes in a population of freshwater snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum). Oecologia 103, 509–517 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328690
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328690