RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GLYPTHELMINS PENNSYLVANIENSIS (TREMATODA, DIGENEA) INFECTIONS AND HOST SIZE

A total of 238 male spring peepers, collected from 3 different western West Virginia marshes during the spring breeding seasons of 1992, 199 3, and 1994, were examined for Glypthelmins pennsylvaniensis infection s. Prevalence was 66.4% with a mean intensity of 6.1. Hosts were divid ed into 5 sample populations, based upon year and site of collection, to examine relationships between 1) host weight and numbers of G. penn sylvaniensis individuals and 2) numbers of this digenean species versu s their mean length. As infected host weight increased, the number of digeneans declined in all 5 host sample populations, but this inverse relationship was not significantly different from zero (i.e., b = 0) f or 4 of those populations. Mean length of G. pennsylvaniensis individu als decreased as their numbers increased in a given host. This inverse relationship was significantly different from zero (i.e., b not equal 0) for individuals in all 5 host sample populations. Mean weights of infected hosts were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than mean weights o f uninfected hosts in 3 of the 5 sample populations.