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Abstract Background Adults and larvae of generalist parasites are exposed to diverse hosts and local environmental conditions throughout their life cycles, thus local adaptation is expected to occur through phenotypic plasticity and/or natural selection. We investigated how the combined effect of cryptic host specificity and local selective pressures could shape reproductive traits of a putative generalist parasite in the oceanic realm. Methods The LSU rDNA, ITS2 and the mt-COI of individuals of the digenean Pholeter gastrophilus (Kossack, 1910) Odhner, 1914 (Heterophyidae Leiper, 1909) from oceanic striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba Meyen, and coastal bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus Montagu, in the western Mediterranean were used to elucidate whether worms were conspecific. Infection parameters were compared between both dolphin species. General Linear Mixed Models were used to analyse the influence of host species on four reproductive traits of P. gastrophilus: body size, maturity stage (non-gravid/gravid), egg size, and number of eggs in utero. AIC values were used to rank competing models, and p-values to assess the effect of specific predictors. Results Evidence indicated that worms collected from both dolphin species were conspecific. All worms collected were gravid and infection parameters did not differ between dolphin species. However, body size and egg size of individuals of P. gastrophilus were significantly larger in striped dolphins. The number of eggs in utero did not significantly differ between dolphin species but, for a given body size, worms in bottlenose dolphins harboured more eggs. A trade-off between egg size and egg number was found in worms from both dolphin species, with a higher slope in striped dolphins. Conclusions Apparently, striped dolphin is a more suitable host for P. gastrophilus, but reproductive investment seems to be adapted to the habitat where the life-cycle develops. Worms from striped dolphins likely face the problem of finding intermediate hosts in the oceanic realm and apparently invest into offspring size to enhance the early survival of larvae and the potential to multiply asexually within the first intermediate host. The small-sized worms from bottlenose dolphins would be adapted to reproduce early because of higher adult mortality, generating smaller and numerous eggs in a coastal habitat where chances of transmission are presumably higher.

The highly specialized coronulid barnacle Xenobalanus globicipitis attaches exclusively on cetaceans worldwide, but little is known about the factors that drive the microhabitat patterns on its hosts. We investigate this issue based on data on occurrence, abundance, distribution, orientation, and size of X. globicipitis collected from 242 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) that were stranded along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Barnacles exclusively infested the fins, particularly along the trailing edge. Occurrence, abundance, and density of X. globicipitis were significantly higher, and barnacles were significantly larger, on the caudal fin than on the flippers and dorsal fin. Barnacles were found more frequently and in greater numbers on the dorsal rather than ventral side of the caudal fin and on the central third of dorsal and ventral fluke surfaces. Nearly all examined individuals attached with their cirral fan oriented opposite to the fluke edge. We suggest that X. globicipitis may chemically recognize dolphins as a substratum, but fins, particularly the flukes, are passively selected because of creation of vortices that increase contact of cyprids with skin and early survival of these larvae at the corresponding sites. Cyprids could actively select the trailing edge and orient with the cirri facing the main direction of flow. Attachment on the dorsal side of the flukes is likely associated with asymmetrical oscillation of the caudal fin, and the main presence on the central segment of the flukes could be related to suitable water flow conditions generated by fluke performance for both settlement and nutrient filtration.

We compared the helminth communities of 5 owl species from Calabria (Italy) and evaluated the effect of phylogenetic and ecological factors on community structure. Two host taxonomic scales were considered, i.e., owl species, and owls vs. birds of prey. The latter scale was dealt with by comparing the data here obtained with that of birds of prey from the same locality and with those published previously on owls and birds of prey from Galicia (Spain). A total of 19 helminth taxa were found in owls from Calabria. Statistical comparison showed only marginal differences between scops owls (Otus scops) and little owls (Athene noctua) and tawny owls (Strix aluco). It would indicate that all owl species are exposed to a common pool of 'owl generalist' helminth taxa, with quantitative differences being determined by differences in diet within a range of prey relatively narrow. In contrast, birds of prey from the same region exhibited strong differences because they feed on different and wider spectra of prey. In Calabria, owls can be separated as a whole from birds of prey with regard to the structure of their helminth communities while in Galicia helminths of owls represent a subset of those of birds of prey. This difference is related to the occurrence in Calabria, but not Galicia, of a pool of 'owl specialist' species. The wide geographical occurrence of these taxa suggest that local conditions may determine fundamental differences in the composition of local communities. Finally, in both Calabria and Galicia, helminth communities from owls were species-poor compared to those from sympatric birds of prey. However, birds of prey appear to share a greater pool of specific helmith taxa derived from cospeciation processes, and a greater potential exchange of parasites between them than with owls because of phylogenetic closeness.