Kd. Lafferty et Ak. Morris, ALTERED BEHAVIOR OF PARASITIZED KILLIFISH INCREASES SUSCEPTIBILITY TOPREDATION BY BIRD FINAL HOSTS, Ecology, 77(5), 1996, pp. 1390-1397
Parasites that are transmitted from prey to predator are often associa
ted with altered prey behavior. Although many concur that behavior mod
ification is a parasite strategy that facilitates transmission by maki
ng parasitized prey easier for predators to capture, there is little e
vidence from field experiments. We observed that conspicuous behaviors
exhibited by killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) were associated with pa
rasitism by larval trematodes. A field experiment indicated that paras
itized fish were substantially more susceptible to predation by final
host birds. These results support the behavior-modification hypothesis
and emphasize the importance of parasites for predator-prey interacti
ons.