The European eel may tolerate multiple infections at a low biological cost

Most animals are concurrently infected with multiple parasites, and interactions among them may influence both disease dynamics and host fitness. However, the sublethal costs of parasite infections are difficult to measure and the effects of concomitant infections with multiple parasite species on individual physiology and fitness are poorly described for wild hosts. To understand the costs of co-infection, we investigated the relationships among 189 European eel (Anguilla anguilla) from Mar Menor, parasites (richness and intensity) and eel's health status' (fluctuant asymmetry, splenic somatic index and the scaled mass index) by partial least squares regression. We found a positive relationship with 44% of the health status variance explained by parasites. Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda: Anisakidae) was the strongest predictor variable (44.72%) followed by Bucephalus anguillae (Platyhelminthes: Bucephalidae), (29.26%), considered the two most relevant parasites in the analysis. Subsequently, 15.67 and 12.01% of the response variables block were explained by parasite richness and Deropristis inflata (Platyhelminthes: Deropristiidae), respectively. Thus, the presence of multiple parasitic exposures with little effect on condition, strongly suggests that eels from Mar Menor tolerate multiparasitism.

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Mayo-Hernandez E. Serrano E. Penalver J. Garcia-Ayala A. Ruiz De Ybanez R. y Munoz P. The European eel may tolerate multiple infections at a low biological cost. Cambridge University, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182015000098

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Retrieved: 19 Jan 2025 15:13:47
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Resource type Article
Date of creation 2024-11-05
Date of last revision 2025-01-19
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Metadata identifier e11f85ca-c083-53d9-959b-6dc50fa2e83e
Metadata language Spanish
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High-value dataset category Earth observation and environment
ISO 19115 topic category biota
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Name of the dataset creator Mayo-Hernandez, E., Serrano, E., Penalver, J., Garcia-Ayala, A., Ruiz De Ybanez, R. y Munoz, P.
Name of the dataset editor Cambridge University
Other identifier DOI: 10.1017/S0031182015000098
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Email of the dataset creator elviramayohdz@gmail.com
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