Temperature and intraspecific competition are important factors influencing the growth of all organisms, including parasites. The temperature increase is suggested to stimulate the development of parasites within poikilothermic hosts. However, at high parasite densities, this effect could be diminished, due to stronger intraspecific competition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful infections by ectoparasites of the genus Argulus occur repeatedly in freshwater fish farming operations where the management has largely been ineffective. Preventative methods and regular monitoring are rarely applied, so that chemical interventions become necessary. According to the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach, a sustainable management or control program for a parasite should be based on knowledge of the ecology of the parasite along with adoption of several prevention and control methods, the application of which is dependent upon the prevailing infection level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFeeding rate and behaviour of juvenile roach in a non-depleting patch consisting of Daphnia magna of two size classes (optimal and much smaller) were studied in 20-min experiments. The medium size group (standard length 26-28 mm), large (28-32 mm), and small (24-26 mm) fish differed significantly in the proportion of small prey eaten. During a short initial period of burst feeding (1-5 min) only large prey were selected by all fish.
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