Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Zoological Institute, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Department of Palaeontology and Evolution, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe (SMNK), Karlsruhe, Germany.
Parasitology. 2023 Apr;150(5):426-433. doi: 10.1017/S0031182023000124. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
Anthropogenic interference is a major driver of ecological change in freshwater ecosystems. Pollution and the introduction of new species not only alter macrozoobenthic community structures, but can also affect their respective parasite communities. The ecology of the Weser river system experienced a drastic decline in biodiversity over the past century due to salinization caused by the local potash industry. As a response, the amphipod was released into the Werra in 1957. A few decades after the introduction and subsequent spread of this North American species, its natural acanthocephalan was recorded in the Weser in 1988, where it had captured the European eel as a novel host. To assess the recent ecological changes in the acanthocephalan parasite community, we investigated gammarids and eel in the Weser river system. In addition to , 3 species and cf. were discovered. The introduced serves as a novel intermediate host for the acanthocephalans and cf. in the tributary Werra. is persistent in the tributary Fulda in its indigenous host . colonized the Weser with its Ponto-Caspian intermediate host . This study highlights the anthropogenically driven changes in ecology and evolution in the Weser river system. Based on morphological and phylogenetic identification, the shifts in distribution and host usage described here for the first time contribute to the puzzling taxonomy of the genus in times of ecological globalization.
人为干扰是淡水生态系统生态变化的主要驱动因素。污染和新物种的引入不仅改变了大型底栖动物群落结构，还可能影响它们各自的寄生虫群落。在过去的一个世纪里，由于当地钾盐工业造成的盐化，威悉河流域的生态系统经历了生物多样性的急剧下降。作为回应，1957 年在威拉河中释放了片脚类动物。在这种北美物种被引入并随后传播几十年后，1988 年在威悉河中记录到了它的天然刺头虫，它将欧洲鳗鱼作为一种新的宿主。为了评估刺头虫寄生虫群落的最新生态变化，我们在威悉河流域调查了片脚类动物和鳗鱼。除了 ，还发现了 3 种和 cf. 。引入的 作为刺头虫和 cf. 在支流威拉的新中间宿主。 在其本土宿主 中， 在支流富尔达持续存在。 随着其 Ponta-Caspian 中间宿主 殖民了威悉河。本研究强调了威悉河流域生态和进化的人为驱动变化。基于形态学和系统发育鉴定，这里首次描述的分布和宿主利用的变化有助于在生态全球化时代解决 属的分类难题。
