| Summary: | The brook trout population in a 4.7 hectare subarctic lake was sampled in 1986 and intensively fished in 1987, 1988 and 1989 in order to study the effect of stock depletion on fish parasite transmission. Population density was originally high, with slow individual growth rates, and small maximum size. Brook trout bore infections of Eubothrium salvelini, Phyllodistomum umblae, Crepidostomum farionis and Diplostomum sp. as well as some rare parasites. After intensive fishing the growth rates and size of the remaining fish increased. In 1987 all parasites increased in abundance. E. salvelini decreased in 1988 whereas the abundance of the other parasites remained high. In 1989 two new parasites, Echinorhynchus lateralis and Philonema sp. appeared. Parasite community changes and improves fish growth were related to trout diets and the pattern of intermediate host consumption. In 1987 zooplankton feeding increased. It then declined in 1988 and 1989 as populations of large benthic invertebrate prey increased. Feeding shifts may also have been mediated in part by intraspecific competition and aggression.
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