Timing of Infections in the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) by Schistocephalus solidus in Alaska.

Abstract

This study provides direct evidence for the timing of infections by Schistocephalus solidus in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) of south-central Alaska. Young-of-the-year fish in Cheney Lake were infected during their first summer within a few months after hatching in May-June. Infections appear to continue under ice cover on the lake during the subsequent fall and winter. Few, if any, 1-yr-old fish seemed to be infected for the first time, although 1-yr-old hosts with established parasites apparently acquired additional infections.