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Effects of Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus (Acanthocephala) on the energy metabolism of adult starlings, sturnus vulgaris

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

V. A. Connors  and
B. B. Nickol
V. A. Connors
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588–0118, USA
B. B. Nickol
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588–0118, USA
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Extract

Although the relationship between intestinal parasitism, the ingestion and use of energy, and host survival is expected, little work has been done to outline the effect of such organisms upon their host's nutritional requirements in an ecological context. This study is the first to demonstrate that an intestinal helminth previously reported to be of little or no histopathological consequence, Plagiorhynchus cylindraceus, has a significant detrimental impact upon the flow of food energy through a definitive host, the European starling, Sturnus vulgaris. Within both male and female adult European starlings reductions in standard metabolic rates occurred as the result of initial infection, indicating that the host's basal metabolism/thermal regulatory abilities were altered. Moreover, initially infected male starlings, but not females, had an increased consumption and excretion of energy and maintained lower average daily body weights versus controls when temperature stressed. These results appear to be due to either a parasite-mediated alteration in host activity and/or to the disruption of host-digestive abilities. Additionally, these data indicate that, overall, male and female S. vulgaris respond differently to infection and that intestinal helminths normally thought to be of little or no pathological consequence to the host are factors that should be addressed in future studies regarding animal energetics, ecology, and behaviour.

Keywords

AcanthocephalaPlagiorhynchus cylindraceusenergeticsstarlingSturnus vulgarispathophysiology
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 103 , Issue 3 , December 1991 , pp. 395 - 402
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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