Schistocephalus parasite infection alters sticklebacks' movement ability and thereby shapes social interactions.

ABSTRACT: Parasitism is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. Although many fundamental aspects of host-parasite relationships have been unravelled, few studies have systematically investigated how parasites affect organismal movement. Here we combine behavioural experiments of Schistocephalus solidus infected sticklebacks with individual-based simulations to understand how parasitism affects individual movement ability and thereby shapes social interaction patterns. High-resolution tracking revealed that infected fish swam, accelerated, and turned more slowly than did non-infected fish, and tended to be more predictable in their movements. Importantly, the strength of these effects increased with increasing parasite load (proportion of body weight), with more heavily infected fish showing larger change

SUBMITTER: Jolles JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7378215 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature