Larval parasitic copepods affect early life history traits of a temperate clingfish
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FISH PARASITOLOGY - ORIGINAL PAPER
Larval parasitic copepods affect early life history traits of a temperate clingfish Mauricio F. Landaeta 1,2 & Camilo Díaz-Richter 1,3 & Gabriela Muñoz 2,3 Received: 9 March 2020 / Accepted: 16 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Larval copepods are frequent parasites that infest fish larvae along the Chilean coast. Because these parasites develop on fish during the early development, when their bodies are fragile and in a recent stage, they can affect the fishes’ early life history traits (ELHT). The goal of this study was to determine the effect of parasitic copepods on the ELHT of the larvae of the clingfish Gobiesox marmoratus (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) using otolith microstructure analysis. Ichthyoplankton samples were collected during austral winter (July and August 2012), in the inner shelf waters off Valparaiso Bay, central Chile. A total of 95 nonparasitized larvae (NPL) and 95 parasitized (PL) with copepods were randomly selected for subsequent analyses. Parasitized larvae of G. marmoratus were larger than NPL. The right otolith tended to be larger than the left otolith in the fish larvae, but with a higher asymmetry in PL. The PL showed larger otoliths-at-size than the NPL, particularly in smaller larvae (< 8 mm of standard length, SL). Nonetheless, parasitized larvae larger than 8 mm SL showed the opposite trend that is smaller-at-size otoliths than NPL. The Gompertz models indicated that the asymptotic length of NPL doubled the length of PL; this suggests that parasitic copepods affect the maximum size attained by the PL. In conclusion, parasitic copepods negatively affect the ELHT of G. marmoratus larvae and the greater asymmetry can be attributed to parasitism. Keywords Parasitic copepod . Somatic growth . Otoliths . Clingfish . Fish larvae
Introduction Parasites can influence the physiology of the host, generating losses in the absorption of metabolic resources, the condition of several tissues and functionality (Coustau et al. 1991), and causing negative effects on behavior, somatic growth, reproduction and survival of the hosts (Schmidt and Roberts 1977; Loot et al. 2004). Pathological effects due to parasites usually depend on the kind of organs infected as well as on the Section Editor: Stephen A. Bullard * Gabriela Muñoz [email protected] 1
Laboratorio de Ictioplancton (LABITI), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
2
Centro de Observación Marino para Estudios de Riesgos del Ambiente Costero (COSTA-R), Universidad de Valparaíso, Avenida Borgoño, 16344 Viña del Mar, Chile
3
Laboratorio de Parasitología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
number and corporal size of the parasites. Parasitized fragile tissues (i.e., gills, eyes, spleen) can suffer great mechanical damage as a result of the attachment and feeding of the parasites. For example, the nematodes infecting the eyes of
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