The pattern of infestation of the beach-hopper amphipod Orchestoidea corniculata, by a parasitic mite

Abstract

SUMMARY: The frequency distribution of an ectoparasitic mite, Gammaridacarus orchestoideae, on its amphipod host, Orchestoidea corniculata, was found to differ significantly from random for all monthly samples taken between October 1977 and October 1978. The negative binomial distribution provided a good fit to these aggregated distributions. The degree of aggregation was negatively correlated with the prevalence of infestation. Prevalence and intensity were highest in the winter, when the degree of aggregation was lowest, and vice-versa in the late summer. This seasonal pattern can be explained through changes in size and density of the host population, which are associated with changes in the size of the habitat of the hosts. Within each sample the host population was highly heterogeneous with regard to infestation by mites. Females carried heavier loads of mites than did males. Both prevalence and intensity were low in the post-moult stages of the moult cycle. Reproductive females showed lower prevalence and intensity of infestation than did either non-reproductive females or males. Analysis of the regression analysis of ‘mean crowding’ on mean density also indicated that aggregation stemmed from a non-random distribution of individual parasites, rather than from clumping of the infective stages of the parasite. Heterogeneity of the host population is suggested as an important cause of the aggregated distribution of the parasite population.