Segregation and co-occurrence of larval cestodes in freshwater fishes in the Bothnian Bay, Finland.

Abstract

Two autogenic (Triaenophorus crassus and T. nodulosus) and four allogenic (Diphyllobothrium latum, D. dendriticum, D. ditremum and Schistocephalus solidus) larval cestode species were found in 13 out of 31 fish species studied from the Bothnian Bay, NE Baltic. Gasterosteus aculeatus was the most heavily infected fish with 4 larval cestode species; for two of them (D. ditremum and S. solidus) the three-spined stickleback was found to be the required fish intermediate host. Among allogenic cestode species, those restricted to different definitive host species segregated their larval population in relation to the fish host, while, for example, D. ditremum and S. solidus, both maturing in fish-eating birds, had the highest percentage of co-occurrences. D. dendriticum, which had the widest range of definitive hosts, was found in the greatest number (8) of fish species and co-occurred with all other species found except T. crassus. The two autogenic species totally segregated their larval population from each other although they both require pike as definitive host. The ecological and evolutionary relationships behind the patterns found for larval cestodes are discussed.