Effects of the trematode 'Maritrema novaezealandensis' on the behaviour of its amphipod host: adaptive or not?

Abstract

There are many recorded cases of parasites that are capable of altering the behaviour of their host to enhance their transmission efficiency. However, not all of these cases are necessarily the results of the parasites actively manipulating host behaviour; they may rather be the 'by-products' of pathology caused by the parasite's presence. This study investigates the effect of the microphallid trematode 'Maritrema novaezealandensis' on the behaviour of one of its crustacean intermediate hosts, the amphipod 'Paracalliope novizealandiae'. Uninfected amphipods were experimentally infected by exposure to 'M. novaezealandensis' cercariae. The activity level and vertical position of experimentally infected amphipods were compared with uninfected amphipods at 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-infection, i.e. both before and after the parasite achieved infectivity to its definitive host. Infected amphipods were found to exhibit significantly lower levels of activity and to occur significantly lower in the water column than uninfected controls during both periods. Based on the timing of the change in behaviour exhibited by infected amphipods, the results suggest that the altered behaviour exhibited by 'P. novizealandiae' infected with 'M. novaezealandensis' is most likely due to pathology caused by the parasite rather than a case of active, and adaptive, behavioural manipulation.