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Jenny Shaw
shaw@lifesci.ucsb.edu
Marine Biotech (Bldg. 555), Rm. 2014 |
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RESEARCH INTERESTS
I am fascinated by parasite modification of host behavior—both the underlying neural mechanisms as well as the ecological ramifications on host-parasite systems. My dissertation research examines the neurobiological basis by which a brain parasite manipulates the behavior of its host, the California killifish. I also assess ecology of this host-parasite system in Southern California and Baja California estuaries, as well as the distribution and abundance of other common estuarine fishes and their parasite fauna in these estuaries.
One striking example of behavior modification exists in the California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis). Killifish are abundant throughout Southern California and Baja California estuaries. In most of these estuaries, the trematode parasite Euhaplorchis californiensis infects nearly 100% of all killifish. Typical infections can be in the thousands, with parasites packed tightly in the fish's braincase. Infected killifish exhibit conspicuous behaviors, e.g., contorting and flashing, four times more than uninfected conspecifics. By making its host more visible, the parasite renders the fish thirty times more likely to be eaten by a bird, the parasite's final host (Lafferty and Morris 1996).
To indentify possible routes of manipulation by the brain parasite, I employ immunohistochemistry, micropunch dissection, and HPLC measure differences in dopamine and serotonin metabolism between infected and uninfected killifish. In order to understand the broader implications of host behavior modification, I am assessing the abundance and distribution of this system in three Southern California and Baja California estuaries. Understanding the mechanisms behind behavior modification will increase understanding of the neural basis of behavior and, ultimately, how parasites may drive food web dynamics in coastal wetlands.
Sampling fish in Baja (Estero de Punta Banda)
Close up of a killifish (a), E. californiensis metacercariae on a killifish brain (b), and single E. californiensis metacercaria (c).
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PUBLICATIONS |
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Shaw, JC, KD Lafferty, RF Hechinger, AM Kuris. In prep. Distribution and abundance of the brain trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis and its host, the California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis). |
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Shaw, JC, WJ Korzan, RE Carpenter, AM Kuris, KD Lafferty, CH Summers, Ø Øverli. 2009. Parasite manipulation of brain monoamines in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) by the trematode Euhaplorchis californiensis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 276(1137-1146). pdf |
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Lafferty, KD, JC Shaw, and AM Kuris. 2008. Reef fishes have higher parasite richness at
unfished Palmyra Atoll compared to fished Kiritimati Island. EcoHealth 5(338-345). pdf |
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Kuris AM, RF Hechinger, JC Shaw, KL Whitney, ML Aguirre-Macedo, C Boch, AP Dobson, et al. 2008. Ecosystem energetic implications of parasite and free-living biomass in three estuaries. Nature 454(7203): 515-518. pdf |
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Lafferty, KD, RF Hechinger, JC Shaw, KL Whitney and AM Kuris. 2006. Food webs and parasites in a salt marsh ecosystem. In Disease Ecology: community structure and pathogen dynamics. S. K. Collinge and C. Ray (eds.), pp 227. Oxford, Oxford University Press. pdf |
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Shaw, JC, ML Aguirre-Macedo, KD Lafferty. 2004. An efficient strategy to estimate intensity and prevalence: sampling metacercariae in fishes. Journal of Parasitology 91(3): 515-521. pdf |
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