Experimental studies on the infestation of Mytilus edulis (L.) by Mytilicola intestinalis Steuer (Copepoda, Cyclopoida)

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Abstract
Infestation is the most critical phase in the life cycle of Mylilicola intestinalis and is shown to be essentially a passive process dependent first on the chance encounter between larvae and the host's field of filtration and secondly on the strength of the host's inhalant current. An examination is made of the effects of temperature, the age and availability of infestive larvae, and the size, density, and previous infestation history of the hosts, on infestation success. It is concluded that host density and the size of the population of infestive larvae are most important in determining immigration into the adult population and that the size of the parasite population in individual hosts may be density-dependent. Finally the essentially commensal characteristics of the relationship between M. intestinalis and its host are discussed.

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