Quantifying parasites in samples of hosts

Whereas terminological recommendations require authors to use mean intensit y or mean abundance to quantify parasites in a sample of hosts, awkward sta tistical limitations also force them to use either the median or the geomet ric mean of these measures when making comparisons across different samples . Here, we propose to reconsider this inconsistent practice by giving prior ity to biological realism in the interpretation of different statistical de scriptors and choosing the statistical tools appropriate to our decisions. Prevalence, mean intensity, and indices of parasite distribution (such as m edian intensity) are suitable descriptors to quantify parasites in a sample of hosts. These measures have different biological interpretations and nee d different statistical methods to be compared between samples.