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Life history and parasites of the invasive mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) along a latitudinal gradient

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Abstract

The eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) is among the most invasive fish worldwide and yet, while very abundant in most Mediterranean countries, it is unable to tolerate the colder winters of northern and central Europe. Understanding the effects of latitude on its life-history traits is essential to predict the potential for its invasion of central Europe in current scenarios of climate change. We studied the variation of life-history traits and parasite load in the eastern mosquitofish along a latitudinal gradient from southern France to southern Spain, sampling mosquitofish populations in eight Mediterranean river mouths ranging 5° in latitude. Southern mosquitofish populations displayed higher catch rates, allocated more energy to reproduction (gonadosomatic index and gonadal weight after accounting for fish size) and had a lower condition (total weight and eviscerated weight after accounting for fish size) than in northern populations. Despite variability among populations, size-at-maturity (L50) significantly varied with latitude and northern individuals matured at smaller size (lower L50). Parasite prevalence ranged from 0.0 to 26.7% but parasite richness was very low; all the parasites identified were larvae of pleurocercoid cestodes belonging to the order Pseudophyllidea. The abundance of mosquitofish parasites decreased with latitude and the presence and number of parasites infecting the mosquitofish had a significant negative effect on fish condition. The significant effects of latitude on the catch rates, life history and parasites of mosquitofish highlight the importance of latitudinal studies of invasive species to understand the interactive mechanisms of climate change and biological invasions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Government of Catalonia (AIRE 2003 and Catalan Government Distinction Award for university research 2004 to EGB) and the Spanish Ministry of Education (REN2003-00477 and CGL2006-11652-C02-01/BOS). LB and CA held doctoral fellowships from the University of Girona and the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU AP 2002-2006), respectively. The manuscript benefited from very helpful comments of several anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, 17071, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

    Lluís Benejam & Emili García-Berthou

  2. Aquatic Ecosystems, IRTA, 43540, Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Spain

    Carles Alcaraz

  3. Laboratoire de Parasitologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS-University of Perpignan, 66680, Perpignan, France

    Pierre Sasal & Gael Simon-Levert

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  1. Lluís Benejam
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  2. Carles Alcaraz
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  5. Emili García-Berthou
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Correspondence to Emili García-Berthou.

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Benejam, L., Alcaraz, C., Sasal, P. et al. Life history and parasites of the invasive mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) along a latitudinal gradient. Biol Invasions 11, 2265–2277 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9413-0

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