Encapsulation of Anguillicola crassus reduces the abundance of adult parasite stages in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)
Encapsulation of the parasitic nematode Anguillicola crassus Kuwahara, Niimi & Hagaki is commonly observed in its native host, the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica Temminck & Schlegel). Encapsulation has also been described in a novel host, the European eel (A. anguilla L.), and there is evid...
| Published in: | Journal of Fish Diseases |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
John Wiley & Sons
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/241642 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.13301 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001664 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002714 |
| Summary: | Encapsulation of the parasitic nematode Anguillicola crassus Kuwahara, Niimi & Hagaki is commonly observed in its native host, the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica Temminck & Schlegel). Encapsulation has also been described in a novel host, the European eel (A. anguilla L.), and there is evidence that encapsulation frequency has increased since the introduction of A. crassus. We examined whether encapsulation of A. crassus provides an advantage to its novel host in Lake Müggelsee, NE Germany. We provide the first evidence that encapsulation was associated with reduced abundance of adult A. crassus. This pattern was consistent in samples taken 3 months apart. There was no influence of infection on the expression of the two metabolic genes studied, but the number of capsules was negatively correlated with the expression of two mhc II genes of the adaptive immune response, suggesting a reduced activation. Interestingly, eels that encapsulated A. crassus had higher abundances of two native parasites compared with non-encapsulating eels. We propose that the response of A. anguilla to infection by A. crassus may interfere with its reaction to other co-occurring parasites. Funding was provided by the IMPact-Vector Graduate School of the Leibniz Association (Senate Competition Committee Grant SAW-2014-SGN-3). Open access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Peer reviewed |
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