Getting what is served? : Feeding ecology influencing parasite-host interactions in invasive round goby Neogobius melanostomus
- Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly impacted by alien invasive species which have the potential to alter various ecological interactions like predator-prey and host-parasite relationships. Here, we simultaneously examined predator-prey interactions and parasitization patterns of the highly invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in the rivers Rhine and Main in Germany. A total of 350 N. melanostomus were sampled between June and October 2011. Gut content analysis revealed a broad prey spectrum, partly reflecting temporal and local differences in prey availability. For the major food type (amphipods), species compositions were determined. Amphipod fauna consisted entirely of non-native species and was dominated by Dikerogammarus villosus in the Main and Echinogammarus trichiatus in the Rhine. However, the availability of amphipod species in the field did not reflect their relative abundance in gut contents of N. melanostomus. Only two metazoan parasites, the nematode Raphidascaris acus and the acanthocephalan Pomphorhynchus sp., were isolated from N. melanostomus in all months, whereas unionid glochidia were only detected in June and October in fish from the Main. To analyse infection pathways, we examined 17,356 amphipods and found Pomphorhynchus sp. larvae only in D. villosus in the river Rhine at a prevalence of 0.15%. Dikerogammarus villosus represented the most important amphipod prey for N. melanostomus in both rivers but parasite intensities differed between rivers, suggesting that final hosts (large predatory fishes) may influence host-parasite dynamics of N. melanostomus in its introduced range.
Author: | Sebastian EmdeGND, Judith KochmannORCiD, Thomas KuhnGND, Martin PlathORCiDGND, Sven KlimpelORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-353021 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109971 |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
Parent Title (English): | PLoS One |
Publisher: | PLoS |
Place of publication: | Lawrence, Kan. |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2014/10/22 |
Date of first Publication: | 2014/10/22 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2014/11/08 |
Volume: | 9 |
Issue: | (10):e109971 |
Page Number: | 12 |
Note: | Copyright: © 2014 Emde et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
HeBIS-PPN: | 366639064 |
Institutes: | Biowissenschaften / Biowissenschaften |
Angeschlossene und kooperierende Institutionen / Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft | |
Biowissenschaften / Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität | |
Fachübergreifende Einrichtungen / Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum (BiK-F) | |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte | |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0 |