CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Association between parasitism and immunity and health-state was investigated in wild Sebastes oculatus afterhaving determined that pollution exposure is associated with altered immune and health-state parameters. Giventhe importance of the immune system in antiparasite defense we predicted: (i) parasite infection would be higherin pollution-exposed than in control fish and (ii) fish with lower immune and health-state parameters wouldshow higher parasitism than fish in better condition. Metazoan parasite fauna was compared between pollutionexposedand non-exposed fish and parasitic indices were correlated with integrated measures of immunity andhealth-state. Results provided little support for the predictions; some parasite taxa increased, some decreased,and some were not affected in pollution-exposed fish despite their altered health and immunity. Furthermore,there was no link between individual immune and health-state parameters and parasitism. These findingshighlight the complexity of host-parasite-environment interactions in relation to pollution in natural marineecosystems.