Abstract
Parasites with a complex life cycle are supposed to influence the behaviour of their intermediate host in such a way that the transmission to the final host is enhanced, but reduced to non-hosts. Here, we examined whether the trophically transmitted bird parasite Polymorphus minutus increases the antipredator response of its intermediate host, the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex to fish cues, i.e. non-host cues (‘increased host abilities hypothesis’). Aggregation behaviour and reduced activity are assumed to decrease the predation risk of gammarids by fishes. Uninfected G. pulex are known to aggregate in the presence of a fish predator. In the present study, gammarids were allowed to choose either to join a group of conspecifics or to stay solitary (experiment 1) or between two groups differing in infection status (experiment 2), both in the presence or absence of fish odour. The perception of the groups was limited to mainly olfactory cues. Contrary to the ‘increased host abilities hypothesis’, in infected gammarids of experiment 1, fish cues induced similar aggregation behaviour as in their uninfected conspecifics. In experiment 2, uninfected as well as infected gammarids did not significantly discriminate between infected and uninfected groups. Although only uninfected gammarids reduced their activity in the presence of predator cues, infected G. pulex were generally less active than uninfected conspecifics. This might suggest that P. minutus manipulates rather the general anti-predator behaviour than the plastic response to predation risk.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Tobias Ottenheym for assistance in experiment 1. The ‘Bakker’ research-group is acknowledged for discussion. We thank the associated editor and the anonymous referees for their very useful comments on the manuscript. Kathrin Langen is acknowledged for genetic determination of the parasite. The Untere Landschaftsbehörde Bonn kindly allowed taking gammarids from the natural habitat. This study adhered to the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour/Animal Behaviour Society Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research.
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Thünken, T., Baldauf, S.A., Bersau, N. et al. Impact of olfactory non-host predator cues on aggregation behaviour and activity in Polymorphus minutus infected Gammarus pulex . Hydrobiologia 654, 137–145 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0377-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0377-6