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Old hosts as treasure troves of worms, worms as tags for new hosts: The overlooked potential of helminthology in invasion biology
No full textOld hosts as treasure troves of worms, worms as tags for new hosts: The overlooked potential of helminthology in invasion biology
No full textMonogenean flatworms: petite parasites, mighty models, innovative indicators?
No full textMonogeneans are an often overlooked, understudied group of helminths. Even their mere existence has regularly come under scientific scrutiny! Often tiny, and mostly infesting external surfaces of fishes, they receive less research and policy attention than the better known flukes and tapeworms that are often of severe human and veterinary health concern. This is unfortunate, as their direct (one-host) lifecycle gives them a methodological advantage for scientists: the (history of) interactions with their hosts can be studied with less confounding factors than is the case for parasites with a complex lifecycle involving vectors or other intermediate hosts. With over 5700 known species and a cosmopolitan distribution covering a wide range of hosts and infection sites, monogeneans, therefore, present a diverse assemblage of candidate models in various subfields of parasitology [1]. For example, in the African Great Lakes, textbook playgrounds for generations of biologists, we studied them to investigate how host evolution [2] and ecology [3] influence parasite communities. Moreover, especially in captivity or when co-introduced with non-native species, monogeneans can wreak havoc to host populations.
Despite an evident negative connotation, parasites provide numerous ecosystem services. For example, they may act as tags for the history of their hosts. This can be applied in invasion biology, where monogenean parasites can help identify fish stocks [4] and infer routes and mechanisms of introduction [5]. The indicator potential of monogeneans also makes them sentinels for ecosystem-level changes resulting from human intervention [6]. The fact that anthropogenic impacts threaten parasites at least as much as they do their hosts and ecosystems, may even make our favourite flatworms interesting to conservation efforts [7]. They also hold promise in environmental parasitology, to help assess effects of pollution, and even for relatively well-studied systems, this field of parasitology is often still in its infancy [8].
References
[1] Vanhove M.P.M., Pariselle A. & Kmentová N. (2024) Monogenean parasitic flatworms. Current Biology 34(22): R1122-R1124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.033
[2] Vanhove M.P.M., Kmentová N., Faes C., Fernandes J.M.O., Hahn C., Hens N., Pariselle A. & Koblmüller S. (2025) Understanding the influence of host radiation on symbiont speciation through parasites of species flocks. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 17(1): a041450. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a041450
[3] Kmentová N., Cruz-Laufer A.J., Milec L., Moons T., Heeren S., van den Hoorn E., Thys K.J.M., Makasa L., Chocha Manda A., Masilya Mulungula P., Van Steenberge M., Jorissen M.W.P. & Vanhove M.P.M. (2024) Host lifestyle and parasite interspecific facilitation mediate co-infection in a species-poor host-parasite system. Oikos 2024(10): e10360 https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10360
[4] Jorissen M.W.P., Vanschoenwinkel B., Pariselle A., Artois T., Danadu C., Huyse T., Kapepula Kasembele G., Muterezi Bukinga F., Šimková A., Snoeks J., Van Sever W., Vreven E., Wamuini Lunkayilakio S. & Vanhove M.P.M. (2025) Do parasite communities differ between invasive and native fish hosts? A case of monogeneans infecting the gills of Nile tilapia. Hydrobiologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05789-8
[5] Kmentová N., Van Steenberge M., Thys van den Audenaerde D.F.E., Nhiwatiwa T., Muterezi Bukinga F., Mulimbwa N'sibula T., Masilya Mulungula P., Gelnar M. & Vanhove M.P.M. (2019) Co-introduction success of monogeneans infecting the fisheries target Limnothrissa miodon differs between two non-native areas: the potential of parasites as a tag for introduction pathway. Biological Invasions 21: 757-773. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-018-1856-3
[6] Gobbin T.P., Van Steenberge M., Vranken N. & Vanhove M.P.M. (2024) Worms of change: anthropogenic disturbance changes the ectoparasite community structure of Lake Victoria cichlids. bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.14.589059
[7] Vanhove M.P.M., Auwerx J., Kmentová N., Martel A., Nelson A., Terriere N., Van Wichelen J., & Gobbin T.P. (2025) Captive breeding of the critically endangered European weatherfish: a refuge for the conservation-sensitive parasite Gyrodactylus fossilis? The Biologist (Lima) 23(S1): S123-S124
[8] Shigoley M.I., Antoine-Moussiaux N., Jauniaux T. & Vanhove M.P.M. (2024) Parasitology of one of the world's foremost fisheries target species lacks a One Health approach. Hydrobiologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05695-z
Acknowledgment
The Authors acknowledge the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen), VLIR-UOS, the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Hasselt University, the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO), EU SYNTHESYS, and the Swiss National Science Foundation for the financial support
The evolutionary ecology of SARS-CoV-2: A missing perspective in the One Health approach
No full textsponsorship: This work received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 839635 TPOINT (C.S.). M.P.M.V. is supported by the Special Research Fund of Hasselt University (BOF20TT06), and is active in the Belgian One Health Network (). We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments. (European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skodowska-Curie grant|839635, Special Research Fund of Hasselt University|BOF20TT06)status: Publishe
Intraspecific morphological variation in Cichlidogyrus (Monogenea) parasitizing two cichlid hosts from Lake Tanganyika exhibiting different dispersal capacities
No full textsponsorship: The authors are grateful to many colleagues and friends who assisted with the sample collections during the fieldtrip in Burundi in 2013 and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016. We thank C. Sturmbauer and S. Koblmuller (University of Graz, Austria), W. Salzburger (University of Basel, Switzerland), D. Muzumani Risasi (CRH-Uvira) for their precious help with cichlid identification; M. Reichard and R. Blaz. ek (Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic) for their help with fish collection, dissection and providing us the photographs of cichlid species during the fieldtrip; A. Meyer (University of Konstanz, Germany), G. Banyankimbona (University of Burundi) and the Schreyen-Brichard family (Burundi/Belgium) for the sample collection and fish identification; P. Masilya Mulungula, T. Mulimbwa N'sibula, V. Lumami Kapepula, E. Bahane Byaragi, S. Kambale Mukeranya and F. Muterezi Bukinga (CRH-Uvira) for co-organizing the field work and their scientific contribution on Tanganyikan cichlids; S.. Mas. ova', V. Micha'lkova', E. R. ehulkova', I. Pr.ikrylova', L. Raisingerova' and N. Kmentova' (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic) for their help with fish dissection, parasite isolation and fixation. The first author thanks L. S. tarhova' Serbina (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic) for stimulating discussions and constructive suggestions and critics related to the geomorphometry. The kind help of K. Civa' n. ova', E. Jirounkova', K. Koukalova', and especially M. Seifertova' (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic), who provided the necessary background in genetics and an unconditional assistance in the molecular laboratory, is acknowledged. Finally, the authors would like to thank E. Verheyen, T. Backeljau, and all the colleagues working at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS, Brussels), M. Parrent from the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA, Tervuren), T. Artois, M.W.P. Jorissen, L. Steenaerts and T. Van Dijck (Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium) for their kind hospitality and for the precious help they provided during the stay in Belgium. This research was funded by the Czech Science Foundation project no. P505/12/G112-European Centre of Ichtyoparasitology (ECIP) and C.R., M.V.S. and M.P.M.V. were further supported by standard project GA19-13573S. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analyses, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. (Czech Science Foundation|P505/12/G112, GA19-13573S)status: Publishe
Parasites through time. Museum collections as a tool for parasite conservation and ecosystem health monitoring.
No full textParasitology of one of the world's foremost aquaculture fish species lacks a One Health Approach
No full textWith the growing global demand for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) as an affordable source of animal protein, the adoption of semi-intensive and intensive farming systems has increased. However, this has also led to a higher risk of parasites, diseases, and mortality among Nile tilapia, as well as environmental impacts. To address these challenges, it is crucial to understand the biology and ecology of these parasites in an ever-changing environment and tackle their pathogenicity. Currently, Oreochromis niloticus is known to harbor approximately 276 species of parasites, making it the African fish with the highest number of reported protists and metazoans. However, the available knowledge on these parasites is fragmented, with only around 340 peer-reviewed articles published on the topic to date. This lack of comprehensive information highlights the need for a One Health approach, which is currently lacking in the study of Nile tilapia parasites and necessitates the need for an appropriate account on the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health. A review was conducted to identify protists, metazoans, fungi, bacteria and viruses that have proven impacts on Nile tilapia health and production, as well as those that pose a zoonotic risk and have the potential to serve as environmental indicators. From the synthesis, only 94 peer-reviewed papers met the inclusion criteria. These studies were carried out in only 24 out of more than 140 countries where Nile tilapia is produced, showing the relatively low number of research on the effects
and environmental correlates of these parasites. When comparing the number of formally described parasite species to the few number of studies documenting their effects, there is a significant knowledge gap. The current information on these parasites is not yet ready for practical use by stakeholders involved in Nile tilapia production and management. Therefore, there is a need for descriptive and experimental studies to bridge this knowledge gap between farmers, fisheries policy makers, veterinarians, researchers and consumers. By adopting a One Health approach and conducting further research, stakeholders can gain valuable insights into the effective management of Nile tilapia fish health and diseases in today's world. This approach will provide information that is essential for sustainable Nile tilapia production, addressing both the environmental integrity, the health and well-being of the fish, and the people who consume them
COVID-19 through the One Health lens: adding a missing perspective
No full text12 The One Health concept offers an integrative approach to disease and health at the human-13 animal-environment interface. It has often been suggested to view the COVID-19 outbreak 14 within this framework to better understand and mitigate this global crisis. Here, we discuss how 15 the evolutionary ecology of host-pathogen systems can add a valuable additional perspective to 16 the debate around SARS-CoV-2 and its implications for public health awareness and policy-17 making. In this context, it is especially important to highlight that changes in nature, such as 18 zoonotic spillover events, are often irreversible, and that humans, while deeply embedded in 19 ecosystems, are intricate ecosystems themselves. A better recognition of the complex biology 20 and evolution of human-parasite interactions will assist our understanding of such zoonoses. 21 2
The World Archives of Species Perception: Understanding human perception in biodiversity conservation
No full textParasites through time. Museum collections as a tool for parasite conservation and ecosystem health monitoring.
No full text- …
