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Experimental spillover of an exotic ectosymbiont on an European native crayfish: the importance of having a chance

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Abstract

Symbiont spillover involves the emergence of new interactions that can influence both the symbiont and the host invasion processes. Here we aimed at experimentally testing the transmission of an exotic ectosymbiont, Ankylocythere sinuosa (Ostracoda, Entocytheridae), from a crayfish invader (Procambarus clarkii) to a native European crayfish (Austropotamobius italicus). Crayfish transmitter and receiver were placed in the same container during 4 days. Three experimental treatments were designed: (i) crayfish transmitter alone (i.e. control group); (ii) cleaned P. clarkii as crayfish receiver; (iii) A. italicus as crayfish receiver. The proportions of colonised crayfish were 92% for P. clarkii and 100% for A. italicus. Mean symbiont emission rate of the control group was 2.75%, with 2.5 times odds increase under the presence of crayfish receiver. Mean transmission rate in treatments with P. clarkii receivers was 38.48%, with higher odds to bigger crayfish receivers (5% increase per gram) and to A. italicus (2.1 times). All entocytherid growth stages were transmitted. We demonstrated that entocytherids harbour transmission features that allow them to achieve successful spillover in nature. However, the symbiont was not found on native crayfish in nature hitherto, probably due to host competitive exclusion and crayfish plague acting on native hosts.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Pilar Ore, Gregorio Herrera, J. A. Gil-Delgado and the astaciculture center of Río de Gallo (Guadalajara, Spain) for their help in supply and transport of native crayfish specimens for the experiment; the governments of Castilla-La Mancha and Generalitat Valenciana provided us the permissions to manage native crayfish for this work; we want to thank Lucas Cabrera and Silvia Piñeiro for their technical support and Romina Liberto for her help during the experiment; the experiments were carried out in the Aquarium Plant of the Central Service for Experimental Research (SCSIE, University of Valencia). This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Project ECOINVADER (CGL2008-01296/BOS) and the University of Valencia (“V-Segles” predoctoral grant to A. Mestre). Finally, we thank the handling editor Diego Fontaneto and two anonymous reviewers for their contribution to improve the quality of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Ecology and Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, University of Valencia, 46100, Burjassot, Spain

    Alexandre Mestre, Andreu Castillo-Escrivà, Juan Rueda, Juan Salvador Monrós & Francesc Mesquita-Joanes

  2. Department of Microbiology and Ecology, University of Valencia, Dr. Moliner 50, 46100, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain

    Alexandre Mestre

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  1. Alexandre Mestre
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Correspondence to Alexandre Mestre.

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Handling editor: Diego Fontaneto

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Mestre, A., Castillo-Escrivà, A., Rueda, J. et al. Experimental spillover of an exotic ectosymbiont on an European native crayfish: the importance of having a chance. Hydrobiologia 755, 225–237 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2236-y

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