An estimate of the mortality in a population of Perca flavescens owing to the trematode Diplostomum adamsi

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  • RLR. J. G. Lester
    R. J. G. Lester
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Abstract
A truncated form of the negative binomial distribution was fitted to the frequency distribution of 5117 metacercariae of Diplostomum adamsi in 115 Perca flavescens taken from the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Comparison between the fitted curve and the actual distribution suggested that 78 heavily infected fish were missing from the sample. Field and laboratory data indicated that this was due to a higher mortality in the heavily infected fish, particularly during their first 2 years of life, rather than to inadequate sampling, host resistance, or parasite–parasite interaction.