Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies International Journal of Oceanography and Hydrobiology Volume 44, Issue 1, March 2015 ISSN 1730-413X pages (11-17) eISSN 1897-3191 The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) infection with Schistocephalus solidus in Hel marina (Puck Bay, Baltic Sea, Poland) by Abstract Zdeněk Mačát* Parasitic relations between animals are very common in wild nature. In this paper, we studied levels of infection in Adam Bednařík three-spined stickleback with plerocercoids of Schistocephalus Martin Rulík solidus from Puck Bay (Baltic Sea, Poland). The total prevalence of infection was 54.2%, while proportion of infected individuals was significantly higher for females than for males. The body width was found to be significantly positively correlated with the number and the weight of parasites. In spite of the increasing deterioration of the Baltic Sea ecosystem by excessive eutrophication and hypoxia, lower DOI: 10.1515/ohs-2015-0002 prevalence of infection compared to previous published data Category: Original research paper indicates that there are likely other factors than pollution affecting the life cycle of parasites and the level of parasitism. Received: November 7, 2014 Accepted: December 11, 2014 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 11, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic Key words: parasite, infection prevalence, Schisto- cephalus solidus, three-spined stickleback, Puck Bay * Corresponding author:
[email protected] The Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies is online at oandhs.ocean.ug.edu.pl ©Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland. All rights reserved. 12 Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies, VOL. 44, ISSUE 1 | MARCH 2015 Zdeněk Mačát, Adam Bednařík, Martin Rulík Introduction 1976).