ArticleParasites & vectors2012
Larval size in acanthocephalan parasites: influence of intraspecific competition and effects on intermediate host behavioural changes.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Balancing sample sizes in parasitology: A standardized experimental infection method using faecal parasite eggs and aquatic intermediate hosts.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2026Article
- Unravelling hidden battles: Genetic insights into parasite diversity and competition in mottled triplefin (Forsterygion capito).Parasitology research · 2025Article
- Biological Invasions Affect Resource Processing in Aquatic Ecosystems: The Invasive AmphipodBiology · 2023Article
- Increased temperature has no consequence for behavioral manipulation despite effects on both partners in the interaction between a crustacean host and a manipulative parasite.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Article
- Competitive growth, energy allocation, and host modification in the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus dirus: field data.Parasitology research · 2017Article
- Acanthocephalan-related variation in the pattern of energy storage of a behaviorally and physiologically modified host: field data.Parasitology research · 2016Article
- Host manipulation in the face of environmental changes: Ecological consequences.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2015Article
- Insufficient evidence of infection-induced phototactic behaviour in Spodoptera exigua: a comment on van Houte et al. (2014).Biology letters · 2015Article
- Influence of host nutritional condition on post-infection traits in the association between the manipulative acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus laevis and the amphipod Gammarus pulex.Parasites & vectors · 2015Article
- The evolutionary ecology of complex lifecycle parasites: linking phenomena with mechanisms.Heredity · 2015Review
- Intra-population variation in behavior modification by the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus dirus: are differences mediated by host condition?Parasitology research · 2014Article
- Increased ventilation by fish leads to a higher risk of parasitism.Parasites & vectors · 2014Article
- Cooperation and conflict in host manipulation: interactions among macro-parasites and micro-organisms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundParasites often face a trade-off between exploitation of host resources and transmission probabilities to the next host. In helminths, larval growth, a major component of adult parasite fitness, is linked to exploitation of intermediate host resources and is influenced by the presence of co-infecting conspecifics. In manipulative parasites, larval growth strategy could also interact with their ability to alter intermediate host phenotype and influence parasite transmission.
methodsWe used experimental infections of Gammarus pulex by Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala), to investigate larval size effects on host behavioural manipulation among different parasite sibships and various degrees of intra-host competition.
resultsIntra-host competition reduced mean P. laevis cystacanth size, but the largest cystacanth within a host always reached the same size. Therefore, all co-infecting parasites did not equally suffer from intraspecific competition. Under no intra-host competition (1 parasite per host), larval size was positively correlated with host phototaxis. At higher infection intensities, this relationship disappeared, possibly because of strong competition for host resources, and thus larval growth, and limited manipulative abilities of co-infecting larval acanthocephalans.
conclusionsOur study indicates that behavioural manipulation is a condition-dependant phenomenon that needs the integration of parasite-related variables to be fully understood.
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