The Hydrobia ulvae-Maritrema subdolum association: cercarial emergence controlled by host activity.
The release of Maritrema subdolum cercariae (Digenea: Microphallidae) from the marine mud snail Hydrobia ulvae is significantly affected by temperature, salinity, light and exudates from the second intermediate amphipod host. Based on (i) previously published data on temperature-salinity dependent H. ulvae activity, (ii) new experimental data on H. ulvae activity in light and darkness as well as in the presence and absence of host exudates, and (iii) the cercarial emergence rate from free moving snails and snails prevented from crawling, the present analysis indicates that emergence of M. subdolum larvae is regulated mainly by host activity as the ultimate factor for release. The adaptive significance of such an emergence strategy is emphasized.
Mouritsen
K N
KN
Department of Marine Ecology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Finlandsgade 14, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. kim.mouritsen@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D005122:Exudates and Transudates; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D008029:Lighting; D008974:Mollusca / Q000469:parasitology*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013696:Temperature; D014200:Trematoda / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*
D012965:Sodium Chloride