Winning the arms race: host-parasite shared evolutionary history reduces infection risks in fish final hosts.

ABSTRACT: Parasite manipulation of intermediate hosts evolves to increase parasite trophic transmission to final hosts, yet counter selection should act on the final host to reduce infection risk and costs. However, determining who wins this arms race and to what extent is challenging. Here, for the first time, comparative functional response analysis quantified final host consumption patterns with respect to intermediate host parasite status. Experiments used two evolutionarily experienced fish hosts and two naive hosts, and their amphipod intermediate hosts of the acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus tereticollis The two experienced fish consumed significantly fewer infected than non-infected prey, with lower attack rates and higher handling times towards the former. Conversely, the two naive f

SUBMITTER: Sheath DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6083226 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature