Abstract
Pathological disorders caused due to metazoan parasitic infestation were studied in the hill stream fishes of northwest Himalayan region. Host specificity was found to be one of the fundamental features of metazoan parasites which belonged to the class Cestoda, Nematoda, Trematoda and phylum Acanthocephala. The study indicates that a successful co-evolution of the host and its parasite has caused the adaptation of the later by developing evading mechanisms in order to avoid extinction. Besides this it was also observed that some parasites have even understood to benefit from the well developed antiparasitic armament in fish intestinal epithelia. Thus, parasites are exploiting the antiparasitic response mechanism of the host to optimize, host finding, invasion and survival in the host. Such interaction between host and parasites are considered phylogenetically old. Some monogeneans, cestodes, digeneans and acanthocephalans were found to resist pronounced cellular and host reactions which even improved the attachment of parasite into the host predilection site. Scanning Electron Microscopy and hitstopathological examination was conducted on parasites recovered from fishes in order to understand the host parasite interaction and the damage inflicted by parasite on hill stream fish species.
Highlights
Parasites are specialists in host environment with close co-evolutionary ties
Acanthocephalans Pomphorhynchus is a metazoan parasite of freshwater fishes, parasitizing the gastrointestinal tract of the hill stream fishes.This spiny headed worm was seen to insert its proboscis into the submucosa and an inflated bulb behind the spines improves the attachment
The research activity in the field of fish parasitology has expanded significantly during the latest decades and we are gaining more information about the intricate reactions of teleosts against various pathogens. It is known from the mammalian immunology that some parasites utilize central molecules of the immune system to invade the host the classic example is that of Leishmania infecting macrophages, one of the most important cells of the host
Summary
Parasites are specialists in host environment with close co-evolutionary ties. Convolution embodies two components, togetherness (Co-) and history (Evolution). Co-evolution encompasses both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary associations. Host specificity (by the parasite) and defense mechanism (by the host) play important role in the microevolutionary studies. It is important to integrate micro and macroevolutionary patterns and processes in order to generate a more robust and unified evolutionary biology in host-parasite evolution. Co-evolutionary patterns in parasite-host association indicate that both classes of organisms show a phylogenetic retention of evolved traits that is sufficient to allow reconstruction of their historical relationship
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