The relationship between the size of some salmonid fishes and the intensity of their acanthocephalan infections

Abstract

Of the complex factors affecting the abundance of acanthocephalan infections in their definitive fish hosts, those related to fish age are considered. In Lake Michigan, the abundance of some 8000 worms, mostly Echinorhynchus salmonis (Müller, 1784), was independent of the age (weight) of coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum), chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), and lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum), using linear regression analysis. Other E. salmonis infection patterns include steady increase in abundance with host age and a maximal increase in midage. A decrease in abundance with host age was demonstrated in other acanthocephalan species. The above patterns were primarily related to host feeding behavior as well as spatial and seasonal distribution of invertebrate and vertebrate larval hosts. A progressive increase in the abundance of Echinorhynchus through midage or through life is associated with a stable intake of an invertebrate diet, including the infected intermediate host, in larger volumes by older fish. Loss of the latter two patterns is affected by destabilizing the above trend through total or partial replacement of the invertebrate diet with a piscivorous one.