A method for estimating possible parasite-related host mortality, illustrated using data from Callitetrarhynchus gracilis (Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha) in lizardfish (Saurida spp.)

Abstract

SUMMARYThe frequency distribution of parasites in hosts commonly follows a negative binomial or similar distribution. Under certain conditions the magnitude of parasite-associated host mortality can be estimated by comparing the tail of the observed distribution to that of the distribution predicted from the first few points of the data. For the technique to work the following assumptions need to be met: mortality in lightly infected fish must be rare; infection and consequent mortality occur only in fish younger than those sampled; and the frequency distribution of the parasite at the time of infection should conform to a known probability distribution. The method was applied to frequency distributions of blastocysts of Callitetra rhynchus gracilis in 898 Saurida tumbil (Bloch) and 5013 S. undosquamis (Richardson). Parasite-associated mortality in S. tumbil was calculated to be at least 11 % in males and 2% in females. For S. undosquamis, estimated mortality was about 5% in males and 3% in females. The numbers of parasites estimated to produce a 0·5 probability of death, the parasitological equivalent of an LD50 were 3·4 and 5·7 for S. tumbil males and females, and 18 and 3 for S. undosquamis males and females respectively.