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Trematodes with a reproductive division of labour: heterophyids also have a soldier caste and early infections reveal how colonies become structured.
- Source :
-
International journal for parasitology [Int J Parasitol] 2017 Jan; Vol. 47 (1), pp. 41-50. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Nov 30. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Recent findings have extended the documentation of complex sociality to the Platyhelminthes, describing the existence of a reproductive division of labour involving a soldier caste among the parthenitae of trematode parasites. However, all species examined to date occupy high positions in trematode interspecific dominance hierarchies and belong to two closely related families, the Echinostomatidae and the Philophthalmidae (Superfamily Echinostomatoidea). Further, the two species documented as lacking soldiers also belong to the Echinostomatidae. Here, we examine four species of intermediate dominance, all belonging to the family Heterophyidae (Superfamily Opisthorchioidea): Euhaplorchis californiensis, Phocitremoides ovale, Pygidiopsoides spindalis and Stictodora hancocki, all of which infect the California horn snail, Cerithideopsis californica (=Cerithidea californica). We quantify morphology, distribution and behaviour of rediae from fully developed colonies. We also provide information on colony structure for three developing heterophyid colonies to better understand colony development. We discuss the implications of our findings, particularly with respect to how they suggest alternatives to the conclusions of other researchers concerning the nature of trematode sociality. Our analyses of morphological, distributional and behavioural patterns of developed colonies indicate that these heterophyid trematodes have a non-reproductive caste whose function is defence of the colony from invading trematodes. Hence, a soldier caste occurs for species lower in dominance hierarchies than previously known, and is present in at least two superfamilies of digenean trematodes, suggesting that selection for a soldier caste may be much more common among the Trematoda than previously recognised.<br /> (Copyright © 2016 Australian Society for Parasitology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Behavior, Animal
Biodiversity
California
Echinostomatidae anatomy & histology
Echinostomatidae classification
Echinostomatidae physiology
Heterophyidae anatomy & histology
Heterophyidae classification
Heterophyidae physiology
Reproduction physiology
Snails parasitology
Social Behavior
Species Specificity
Trematoda pathogenicity
Trematode Infections parasitology
Trematoda physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1879-0135
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- International journal for parasitology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27914977
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.10.003