Thinking “outside the box”: The effect of nontarget snails in the aquatic community on mollusc-borne diseases

Stanicka, Anna; Cichy, Anna; Bulantová, Jana; Łabęcka, Anna Maria; Ćmiel, Adam M.; Templin, Julita; Horák, Petr; Żbikowska, Elżbieta

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157264

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Transmission dynamics of Trichobilharzia spp in physids is important, for example, to determine if P. acuta from Chile is refractory to the infection with the native avian schistosomatids from Clade Q (e.g. Stanicka et al, 2022), or if Physa sp. from Argentina is a native species, which might explain the infection despite the small sample size examined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematics and life cycles of four avian schistosomatids from Southern Cone of South America

Oyarzún-Ruiz,

Thomas,

Santodomingo

et al. 2024

J. Helminthol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Relative to the numerous studies focused on mammalian schistosomes, fewer include avian schistosomatids particularly in the southern hemisphere. This is changing and current research emerging from the Neotropics shows a remarkable diversity of endemic taxa. To contribute to this effort, nine ducks (Spatula cyanoptera, S.versicolor, Netta peposaca), 12 swans (Cygnus melancoryphus) and 1,400 Physa spp. snails from Chile and Argentina were collected for adults and larval schistosomatids, respectively. Isolated schistosomatids were preserved for morphological and molecular analyses (28S and COI genes). Four different schistosomatid taxa were retrieved from birds: Trichobilharzia sp. in N. peposaca and S. cyanoptera that formed a clade; S.cyanoptera and S. versicolor hosted Trichobilharzia querquedulae; Cygnus melancoryphus hosted the nasal schistosomatid, Nasusbilharzia melancorhypha; and one visceral, Schistosomatidae gen. sp., which formed a clade with furcocercariae from Argentina and Chile from previous work. Of the physid snails, only one from Argentina had schistosomatid furcocercariae that based on molecular analyses grouped with T. querquedulae. This study represents the first description of adult schistosomatids from Chile as well as the elucidation of the life cycles of N.melancorhypha and T. querquedulae in Chile and Neotropics, respectively. Without well-preserved adults, the putative new genus Schistosomatidae gen. sp. could not be described, but its life cycle involves Chilina spp. and C. melancoryphus. Scanning electron microscopy of T. querquedulae revealed additional, undescribed morphological traits, highlighting its diagnostic importance. Authors stress the need for additional surveys of avian schistosomatids from the Neotropics to better understand their evolutionary history.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematics and life cycles of four avian schistosomatids from Southern Cone of South America

Oyarzún-Ruiz,

Thomas,

Santodomingo

et al. 2024

J. Helminthol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First, pathogens can significantly alter the ecosystem services provided by the wider mussel community (Brian et al, 2022), something which cannot be predicted without understanding parasite diversity and distributions. Second, if certain mussel species are found to be reliably non‐competent for disease‐causing pathogens, they could be introduced into vulnerable locations to restore the benefit of the dilution effect (Stanicka et al, 2022; Figure 2). However, such restoration action relies on comprehensive knowledge of pathogens' host ranges and competency, information known for very few freshwater or invertebrate taxa.…”

Section: A Community Approach To Biodiversity and Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…If correct, our hypothesis would be a major step forward in understanding enigmatic declines and provide additional impetus for conserving freshwater mussel biodiversity. It raises the possibility of translocations of non‐competent species to at‐risk rivers to dilute the pathogen risk for remaining host species (Stanicka et al, 2022). We note that the biodiversity‐disease relationship is most likely to be observed for passively dispersed pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses.…”

Section: Declines In Mussel Biodiversity Amplify Pathogens In Remaini...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Enigmatic freshwater mussel declines could be explained by the biodiversity‐disease relationship

Brian

Aldridge

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The biodiversity‐disease relationship states that increased species richness leads to lower pathogen pressure (i.e. the dilution effect), an effect that erodes with biodiversity loss. However, whether losses of the dilution effect can trigger extinction cascades remains largely unexplored. To explore this idea, we consider declines in freshwater mussels, on average the most threatened non‐marine group of organisms in the world. We argue that anthropogenically stimulated declines in mussel richness amplify pathogens in remaining species. Pathogen amplification triggers further local losses in both mussel abundance and richness, explaining the observed so‐called “enigmatic” declines in freshwater mussels. Vulnerable communities could become trapped in cycles of pathogen amplification and host decline. We highlight knowledge gaps and provide key steps to assess the likelihood of this occurring; these key steps are applicable to any host group. Policy implications. Our argument constitutes a testable hypothesis that may explain richness or abundance declines in previously intact communities. We provide further impetus for the consideration and preservation of diversity at a local scale and show that effective conservation requires integration of both host and parasite ecology.

show abstract

“…For example, the removal rate of free‐living parasite stages may be reduced in the presence of a target host and an alternative food resource, and the strength of this is consumer‐specific (Hopper et al, 2008; Welsh et al, 2017). However, a comprehensive approach to the overall ecosystem complexity seems to be rarely implemented in parasitological research (Stanicka, Cichy, et al, 2022). Moreover, the occurrence of newly introduced non‐target organisms for parasite communities may significantly impair the transmission success (Gendron & Marcogliese, 2016; McIntire et al, 2021; Stanicka et al, 2021; Westby et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New species, new story: The impact of invasive non‐host predators on host‐trematode interactions

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predation is considered one of the key drivers shaping the relationships between animals. There is increasing evidence that non‐host aquatic taxa use free‐living parasite stages as prey, including motile cercariae of digenean trematodes. However, species‐specific predator differences in cercarial consumption are poorly understood, especially when invasive consumers are involved. We used experimental approaches to investigate the possible predator‐induced reduction in trematode‐host encounters in freshwater benthic communities. Four gammarid species, two native European (Gammarus jazdzewskii and G. pulex) and two invasive Ponto‐Caspian (Dikerogammarus villosus and Pontogammarus robustoides), were selected as predators of echinostomatid cercariae (Echinoparyphium aconiatum). We hypothesised that (i) all predators will prey on cercariae, but the amount of prey consumed will vary, the invaders will be more voracious than native species, and (ii) the effect of predator‐induced dilution of cercariae will depend on the environmental condition, i.e., the presence of the natural target host (the planorbid snail Planorbarius corneus) and alternative food resource; the exposure of predators to these two basic environmental factors will reduce their consumption rates of cercariae. The extent of the dilution effect caused by gammarids was highly predator species‐dependent and also varied depending on experimental conditions. Overall, all gammarids preyed on cercariae and reduced infection levels in the target snail host, but the invaders were more efficient than the native species. Furthermore, decreased consumption rates of cercarial prey were observed in the presence of both the target snail hosts and alternative food resources, except for invasive P. robustoides consuming more cercariae when a snail host was present. The observed differences among predators in the consumption of cercariae may be a result of complex interaction traits of parasites, predators and target hosts, such as different predatory behaviour of invasive and native amphipods, change in parasite behaviour in response to the presence/chemical signals of the target host and a predator‐induced “ecology of fear” interfering with the dilution effect of parasites. We provided evidence that gammarids can cause a significant reduction in parasite‐host encounters. The high consumption rates, especially in the presence of easily available alternative food resources, emphasise the importance of free‐living cercariae as an energy resource in aquatic food webs. The observed predator differences in the consumption of cercariae are further evidence of the higher competitive ability of invasive species. Simultaneously, our results indicate that the appearance of new predators in the environment may interfere with established host‐parasite interactions.

show abstract

Thinking “outside the box”: The effect of nontarget snails in the aquatic community on mollusc-borne diseases

Cited by 3 publications

References 57 publications

Systematics and life cycles of four avian schistosomatids from Southern Cone of South America

Systematics and life cycles of four avian schistosomatids from Southern Cone of South America

Enigmatic freshwater mussel declines could be explained by the biodiversity‐disease relationship

New species, new story: The impact of invasive non‐host predators on host‐trematode interactions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About