TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF CLONALITY AND PARASITISM IN A POPULATION OF FRESH-WATER BRYOZOANS

Clonal reproduction is commonly incorporated into the life cycles of m any metazoans. However, whether and how such highly clonal animals per sist in the face of natural enemies remains poorly understood. Here we report the first temporal genetic study of a clonal population, the f reshwater bryozoan Cristatella mucedo, and the associated prevalence o f a myxozoan parasite. High levels of both clonality and parasitism pe rsisted over a 3 year period. Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers revealed four distinct clones of C. mucedo. The two most common clone s varied in abundance with the significantly more common clone in the first year becoming the significantly less common by the third year. T here was no evidence that the most common clone was disproportionately infected. These results are discussed in relation to predictions of t he Red Queen and the metapopulation dynamics of clonal organisms.