Host density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail-trematode system

Ecology
J C BuckK D Lafferty

Abstract

Most species aggregate in local patches. High host density in patches increases contact rate between hosts and parasites, increasing parasite transmission success. At the same time, for environmentally transmitted parasites, high host density can decrease infection risk to individual hosts, because infective stages are divided among all hosts in a patch, leading to safety in numbers. We tested these predictions using the California horn snail, Cerithideopsis californica (=Cerithidea californica), which is the first intermediate host for at least 19 digenean trematode species in California estuaries. Snails become infected by ingesting trematode eggs or through penetration by free-swimming miracidia that hatch from trematode eggs deposited with final-host (bird or mammal) feces. This complex life cycle decouples infective-stage production from transmission, raising the possibility of an inverse relationship between host density and infection risk at local scales. In a field survey, higher snail density was associated with increased trematode (infected snail) density, but decreased trematode prevalence, consistent with either safety in numbers, parasitic castration, or both. To determine the extent to which safety in numbers drov...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 14, 2018·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·David J CivitelloJason R Rohr
Dec 17, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Gregory F AlberyChristina Buesching
Jul 25, 2017·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Julia C Buck, William J Ripple
Jul 3, 2021·Pathogens·Anna StanickaElżbieta Żbikowska

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