Assessing parasite community structure in cockles Cerastoderma edule at various spatio-temporal scales

Abstract

Cockles (Cerastoderma edule) are among the most exploited bivalves in Europe. They live in lagoons and estuaries where they undergo many stressors including parasites. Trematodes are the most prevalent macroparasites of cockles and can exert a significant impact on their host populations depending on parasite species and infection intensity. Monitoring these parasite–host systems in order to predict potential host mortalities require a correct knowledge of the spatio-temporal variation of infection.A yearly monitoring of cockles from six stations around Ile aux Oiseaux, Arcachon Bay (France) was conducted between 1998 and 2005. Distance between two stations was ca. 1km. Nine trematode species were identified. Despite a relative homogeneity of the parasite community structure in cockles, between three and six clusters were identified by Hierarchical Ascendant Classification showing that among-sites heterogeneity of trematode communities in cockles was higher than within-site heterogeneity. At the scale of 8 years, and for 2-year old cockles, these patterns remained stable in four out of six stations. Spatial aggregation disappeared with cockle age, since parasite communities in 3-year cockles did not reflect any particular station(s): with age, cockles eventually accumulated most trematode species and lost the site signature. On the other hand, we demonstrated that the commonly accepted theory stating that older/larger cockles accumulate more trematode larvae was not verified and that there could exist a vulnerable age/size that doesn’t correspond to largest values. This study provided a new insight in the parasite community heterogeneity in their host, and in the significance of samples in relation with space and time.