Parasites and their effects on host physiology, movement and behaviour

对动物行为、生理和运动的研究认为，个体是健康的，并以适应其生存的方式表现最佳。然而，野生动物面临着许多生态挑战，如寄生虫感染，这些挑战危及它们的健康，降低它们的活动能力，损害它们的运动能力，最终降低它们的健康水平。寄生虫在影响动物运动行为(即何时何地移动)和运动能力(即执行运动行为的能力)方面的作用在很大程度上尚未被探索，可能是因为动物经常隐藏疾病的外部迹象，而寄生虫往往不明显。我将使用以下淡水和海水鱼类及其相关的外生和内生寄生虫作为模型系统，以解决我们在了解寄生虫如何塑造其宿主的运动行为和运动能力方面的基本知识空白：a)太阳鱼(Lepomis spp.)感染吸虫(Uverifer spp.)来自魁北克的湖泊和B)被来自美属维尔京群岛珊瑚礁的阿尼鲁玛等足目动物感染的法国石斑鱼和棕色鱼。我的小组将解决四个主要问题：Q1)鱼类是否使用预防行为来避免感染？我们将评估蓝莓和南瓜籽太阳鱼是否使用视觉和/或气味线索来避免受感染的同种和栖息地。Q2)受感染的宿主是否使用治疗行为来减少感染或从感染中恢复？在实验室和野外实验中，我们将通过寻找温暖的微生境来测试受感染的太阳鱼是否表现出行为发热，以帮助它们从吸虫感染中恢复过来。问题3)寄生虫是否会影响宿主的运动性能？作为对行为补偿假说的检验，我们将评估体表寄生虫感染是否会影响不同生活阶段的法国石斑鱼和棕色鱼的有氧游泳和快速启动运动能力，以及内寄生虫感染是否会同样影响太阳鱼的运动能力。问题4)运动能力受损是否会影响宿主迁移的模式？我们将测试受感染的法国沙鼠的部分迁徙是否与体外寄生虫造成的个体行为能力受损有关。这些问题的答案将为预测寄主、寄生虫和动物在不断变化的世界中的运动模式之间的相互作用的后果提供亟需的经验数据。

Studies of animal behaviour, physiology and movement assume that individuals are healthy and performing optimally in ways which are adapted to their survival. However, wild animals face numerous ecological challenges, such parasite infection, that compromise their health, reduce their performance capacity, impair their movement abilities and, ultimately, lower their fitness. The role of parasites in influencing animal movement behaviours (i.e. where and when to move) and locomotor performance capacity (i.e. ability to execute a movement behaviour) is largely unexplored, perhaps because animals often hide outward signs of sickness, and parasites tend to be inconspicuous. I will use the following freshwater and marine fishes and their associated ecto- and endoparasites as model systems to address fundamental knowledge gaps in our understanding of how parasites shape the movement behaviour and locomotor performance of their hosts: A) sunfishes (Lepomis spp.) infected with trematodes (Uvulifer spp.) from lakes in Quebec and B) French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) and brown chromis (Chromis multilineata) infected with Anilocra isopods from reefs in the US Virgin Islands. My group will address four overarching quesions: Q1) Do fishes use prophylactic behaviours to avoid infection? We will evaluate whether bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish use visual and/or odour cues to avoid infected conspecifics and habitats. Q2) Do infected hosts use therapeutic behaviours to reduce or recover from infection? In laboratory and field experiments, we will test whether infected sunfishes display behavioural fever by seeking out warm microhabitats to help them recover from trematode infection. Q3) Do parasites affect host locomotor performance? As a test of the performance compensation hypothesis, we will assess whether ectoparasite infection affects the aerobic swimming and fast-start kinematic performance of French grunt and brown chromis across different life stages, and whether endoparasite infection similarly affects locomotor performance in sunfish. Q4) Does impaired locomotor performance affect patterns of host migration? We will test whether partial migration in infected French grunt is related to impairments in individual performance capacity caused by ectoparasites. Answers to these questions will provide much needed empirical data for predicting the consequences of interactions between hosts, parasites and movement patterns of animals in a changing world.