Cestodes change the isotopic signature of brine shrimp, Artemia, hosts: implications for aquatic food webs

Abstract

To reach the final host (greater flamingos), the cestode Flamingolepis liguloides alters the behaviour of its intermediate host, the brine shrimp, Artemia parthenogenetica, causing it to spend more time close to the water surface. During summer 2010, we showed that the prevalence of this cestode was consistently higher at the top of the water column in the Odiel salt pans in south-western Spain. We used stable nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) isotopic analysis to test the hypothesis that cestodes also alter resource use by Artemia. In early summer, we compared stable isotopes in infected hosts at the surface with those from uninfected hosts at the bottom of the water column. In late summer, we compared infected and uninfected Artemia from the bottom. δ(15)N was consistently enriched in infected individuals compared with uninfected hosts, especially in Artemia with multiple infections of F. liguloides (family Hymenolepididae) and those with mixed infections of F. liguloides and cestodes of the family Dilepididae. Infected individuals from the surface were enriched in δ(13)C compared with uninfected ones from the bottom, but the opposite was found when comparing uninfected and infected Artemia from the same depth. This may be caused by the increase in lipid concentration in infected Artemia. Isolated cysticercoids of F. liguloides were significantly enriched in δ(13)C compared with cysticercoids in infected hosts, but surprisingly were not enriched in N. Our findings illustrate the way cestodes can alter food webs and highlight the importance of considering the parasitic status of prey in studies of trophic ecology in saline wetlands.