Do parasites confer a disadvantage to hybrids? : A case study ofAlburnus alburnusxRutilus rubilio, a natural hybrid of Lake Mikri Prespa, Northern Greece

Francis Dupont; Alain J Crivelli

doi:10.1007/BF00776424

Do parasites confer a disadvantage to hybrids? : A case study ofAlburnus alburnusxRutilus rubilio, a natural hybrid of Lake Mikri Prespa, Northern Greece

Oecologia. 1988 May;75(4):587-592. doi: 10.1007/BF00776424.

Authors

Francis Dupont¹, Alain J Crivelli²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire de Parasitologie Comparée, Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Place E. Bataillon, F-34060, Montpellier, France.
² Station biologique de la Tour du Valat, le Sambuc, F-13200, Arles, France.

PMID: 28312435
DOI: 10.1007/BF00776424

Abstract

This paper is the second of three studies of a natural hybrid,Rutilus rubilioxAlburnus alburnus found in Lake Mikri Prespa in Northern Greece. It compares the parasite load of the hybrid to that of its parents, focussing onDactylogyrus spp.,Diplozoon sp.,Bolbophorus confusus andPomphorhynchus bosniacus. The hybrid's gill tissue is parasitised almost exclusively by the parentalDactylogyrus. It follows that theDactylogyrus group constitutes an excellent biological marker for hybridisation. Furthermore, the hybrid is characterised by the following two features: 1. high susceptibility to parasitic infections, 2. important role of ecological components in the recruitment of parasites: for monoxenous parasites (Dactylogyrus spp.), the spatial position of the hybrid and for heteroxenous parasites (P. bosniacus), the trophic position. The parasitology of this particular hybrid may be useful as a model for the properties and fitness of hybrids in general.

Keywords: Cyprinidae; Greece; Hybridisation; Parasitism; Prespa Lake.