Effects of two acanthocephalan species on the reproduction of Hyalella patagonica (Amphipoda, Hyalellidae) in an Andean Patagonian Lake (Argentina)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate alterations in the reproduction induced by acanthellae and cystacanths of the acanthocephalans Acanthocephalus tumescens and Corynosoma sp. in the amphipod Hyalella patagonica from Lake Mascardi. Specimens of H. patagonica were separated in two categories: paired amphipods (joined specimens during precopulatory mate guarding period until fertilization) and unpaired amphipods (alone specimens). Different analyses were performed: first with paired (n = 406) and unpaired (n = 375) amphipods, and second only with female amphipods (n = 1949), that were classified into three categories (without internal oocytes and eggs, only with internal oocytes, and with eggs). Also, carotenoid extraction was performed of amphipods uninfected (n = 75) and infected (n = 105) by cystacanths of Corynosoma sp. Unpaired amphipods had significantly higher prevalence of cystacanths of both acanthocephalan species than paired ones; but such differences were not found in prevalence of acanthellae. Female amphipods without internal oocytes and eggs showed significantly higher prevalence of cystacanths of both acanthocephalan species than the two other female categories; while females with eggs had significantly higher prevalence of A. tumescens acanthellae. Amphipods infected by Corynosoma sp. showed lower carotenoid concentration than uninfected ones. In Lake Mascardi, there is indirect evidence of both reduced mating success and female fecundity of H. patagonica provoked by both cystacanths species (A. tumescens and Corynosoma sp.). However, infections by acanthellae seem to have no effects.