Acanthocephalus dirus is a species of parasitic worm in the Echinorhynchidae family.[2] Instead of having its eggs expelled from the host in feces, the gravid female detaches itself from the host's digestive tract and sinks to the bottom, where her body is consumed by the species' intermediate host, Caecidotea intermedius, a species of isopod.[3][4] Upon hatching, the larvae begin to alter their host's behavior. This will manifest in lighter pigmentation and an increased attraction to predators, such as A. dirus' primary hosts.[5][6]
| Acanthocephalus dirus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Acanthocephala |
| Class: | Palaeacanthocephala |
| Order: | Echinorhynchida |
| Family: | Echinorhynchidae |
| Genus: | Acanthocephalus |
| Species: | A. dirus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acanthocephalus dirus (Van Cleve, 1931)[1]
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Hosts
editAcanthocephalus dirus is commonly found parasitizing the following species of fish:[7]
- Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
- Longnose Sucker (Catostomus catostomus)
- White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii)
- Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
- Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii)
- Slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus)
- Spoonhead sculpin (Cottus ricei)
- Brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans)
- Northern pike (Esox lucius)
- Burbot (Lota lota)
- White bass (Morone chrysops)
- Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
- Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
- Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax)
- Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
- Trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus)
- Round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum)
- Ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius)
- Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
- Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
- Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
References
editNotes
edit- ^ "Acanthocephalus dirus (Van Cleve, 1931)". GBIF.org. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Acanthocephalus dirus (Van Cleve, 1931)". ITIS. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ "Acanthocephalus dirus". Parasite of the Day. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ Wahl, G. M.; Sparkes, T. C. (August 2012). "Egg dispersal in the acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus dirus: field data". Journal of Parasitology. 98 (4). American Society of Parasitologists: 894–896. doi:10.1645/GE-3078.1. PMID 22360588. S2CID 30511854.
- ^ Hechtel, Laura J.; Johnson, Cheryl L.; Juliano, Steven A. (April 1993). "Modification of Antipredator Behavior of Caecidotea Intermedius by Its Parasite Acanthocephalus Dirus" (PDF). Ecology. 74 (3). Ecological Society of America: 710–713. Bibcode:1993Ecol...74..710H. doi:10.2307/1940798. JSTOR 1940798. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ Sparkes, T. C.; Wright, V. M.; Renwick, D. T.; Weil, K. A.; Talkington, J. A.; Milhalyov, M. (September 2004). "Intra-specific host sharing in the manipulative parasite Acanthocephalus dirus: does conflict occur over host modification?". Journal of Parasitology. 129 (3). American Society of Parasitologists: 335–340. doi:10.1017/S0031182004005645. PMID 15471008. S2CID 21052338. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ McDonald, T. E.; Margolis, L. (1995). Synopsis of the Parasites of Fishes of Canada: Supplement (1978-1993). Ottawa, Ontario: National Research Council of Canada. p. 115. ISBN 0-660-15902-3. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
Further reading
edit- Oetinger, David F.; Nickol, Brent B. (April 1982). "Spectrophotometric Characterization of Integumental Pigments from Uninfected and Acanthocephalus dirus-Infected Asellus intermedius". Journal of Parasitology. 68 (2). American Society of Parasitologists: 270–275. doi:10.2307/3281186. JSTOR 3281186.
- Dina Yangirova. "Mind Games: Acanthocephalan infection and behavioral modification". OpenStax CNX. OpenStax College. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- Seidenberg, Arthur J. (December 1973). "Ecology of the Acanthocephalan, Acanthocephalus dirus (Van Cleave, 1931), in Its Intermediate Host, Asellus intermedius Forbes (Crustacea: Isopoda)". Journal of Parasitology. 59 (6). American Society of Parasitologists: 957–962. doi:10.2307/3278624. JSTOR 3278624.
 | This acanthocephalan-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |