Heterogeneity in helminth infections: factors influencing aggregation in a simple host- parasite system Richard C. Tinsley1*, Hanna Rose Vineer2,3, Rebecca Grainger-Wood1,4, Eric R. Morgan1,5 1School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ 2School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU Present addresses: 3Department of Infection Biology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX 4CSA Environmental, Pershore WR10 3DN 5School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 7BL Running title: Population biology of Discocotyle *Corresponding author: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ E-mail:
[email protected] This is an Accepted Manuscript for Parasitology. This version may be subject to change during the production process. DOI: 10.1017/S003118201900129X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Bristol Library, on 06 Sep 2019 at 09:21:45, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003118201900129X 2 Abstract The almost universally-occurring aggregated distributions of helminth burdens in host populations have major significance for parasite population ecology and evolutionary biology, but the mechanisms generating heterogeneity remain poorly understood. For the direct life cycle monogenean Discocotyle sagittata infecting rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, variables potentially influencing aggregation can be analysed individually. This study was based at a fish farm where every host individual becomes infected by D. sagittata during each annual transmission period. Worm burdens were examined in one trout population maintained in isolation for 9 years, exposed to self-contained transmission.