Putting infection on the map: Using heatmaps to characterise within- and between-host distributions of trematode metacercariae

Abstract

The location of parasites within individual hosts is often treated as a static trait, yet many parasite species can occur in multiple locations or organs within their hosts. Here, we apply distributional heat maps to study the within- and between-host infection patterns for four trematodes (Alaria marcianae, Cephalogonimus americanus, Echinostoma spp. and Ribeiroia ondatrae) within the amphibian hosts Pseudacris regilla and two species of Taricha. We developed heatmaps from 71 individual hosts from six locations in California, which illustrate stark differences among parasites both in their primary locations within amphibian hosts as well as their degree of location specificity. While metacercariae (i.e., cysts) of two parasites (C. americanus and A. marcianae) were relative generalists in habitat selection and often occurred throughout the host, two others (R. ondatrae and Echinostoma spp.) were highly localised to a specific organ or organ system. Comparing parasite distributions among these parasite taxa highlighted locations of overlap showing potential areas of interactions, such as the mandibular inner dermis region, chest and throat inner dermis and the tail reabsorption outer epidermis. Additionally, the within-host distribution of R. ondatrae differed between host species, with metacercariae aggregating in the anterior dermis areas of newts, compared with the posterior dermis area in frogs. The ability to measure fine-scale changes or alterations in parasite distributions has the potential to provide further insight about ecological questions concerning habitat preference, resource selection, host pathology and disease control.

Into the danger zone: How the within‐host distribution of parasites controls virulence

“…To identify within-host parasite distributions, we recorded the location of each encysted metacercaria as in the 'hind limb region' (cysts posterior to the mid-abdomen) or 'anterior region' (cysts anterior to the mid-abdomen). For a subset of hosts, we created heat maps to visually illustrate the within-host distributions of R. ondatrae infection (see Data S1; Calhoun et al, 2023).…”