THE INTERSPECIES HYBRIDIZATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES ON THE RICHNESS AND DISTRIBUTION OF PARASITES
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Interspecies hybridization in fish may significantly affect the fish ecology, physiology and immunity. Therefore, the hybrids represent the novel habitats for the parasites. In addition, it is hypothesized that the parasite communities of hybrids are affected by the maternal ancestry of the hybrid fish hosts. The aim of this study was to detect the possible influence of the hybridization and maternal ancestry of the hybrids on the composition of parasite communities and the parasite species richness. We focused on the metazoan parasites of roach (Rutilus rutilus) and common bream (Abramis brama) living in sympatry and their respective hybrids. Fish sampling was performed in Hamry reservoir (Czech Republic) in the spring and autumn during three consecutive years 2011, 2012 and 2013. All fish specimens were identified morphologically and molecularly (microsatellites and mitochondrial cytochrome b gene). Generalised linear models testing the effects of the fish group (A. brama, R. rutilus and hybrids), season and year and including the body length as a covariate on the parasite abundance were applied. Hybrid offspring revealed higher parasite species richness when compared to parental species, however, parasite abundance was significantly lower in hybrids. Statistical analyses revealed that the parasite communities of hybrids are more similar to the parasite communities of roach than to the parasite communities of common bream regarding parental-specific parasites. Hybrid fish with the maternal ancestry of common bream were more susceptible to the digenean and crustacean parasites which may be linked to the potential differences in the ecology of hybrids of different maternal origins. The shift in the presence of parental species-specific parasites might be potentially connected to the different level of host-parasite co-adaption in roach and common bream. |
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