Invasiveness and adaptation of the alien parasite Anguillicoloides crassus

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Bernd Sures
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Ökologie und Biodiversität der Tiere und Ökosysteme, Organismische Interaktionen ; Evolution, Anthropologie
• Förderung: Förderung von 2012 bis 2018
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 219397384

Worldwide trade does not only relocate goods but also introduces organisms into new areas. Depending on factors such as living conditions, competition or enemies, alien species can even influence biodiversity. Successfully introduced parasites do not only infect new host species but can also be a threat to their new host populations.Parasites of the genus Anguillicoloides (A. crassus, A. novaezelandiae) are a well known example of successful invaders which have adverse effects on their new host, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Both parasite species differ in terms of their origin and their invasiveness and therefore offer an excellent opportunity to study not only the difference in invasive potential of two closely related parasite species but also factors that govern the degree of adaptation between eels and their swim bladder parasites.Infection experiments with European and Japanese eels (A. anguilla and A. japonica) with the two parasite species A. crassus and A. novaezelandiae will be performed in order to study the difference of stress and immune reaction / immune evasion on host and parasite level. We will relate differences in parasite infection success, morphological differences and lifecycle duration to different degrees of invasiveness of Anguillicoloides species.The suggested experimental design will allow us to test the hypothesis that A. novaezelandiae is more stressed and therefore shows less invasive potential than A. crassus. We expect the life cycle of A. crassus to be more efficient in Europe than the life cycle of A. novaezelandiae.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Beteiligte Person: Dr. Daniel Grabner