Ness and Foster investigated the relationship between infection with the Schistocephulus solidus and the threespine stickleback fish's response to predators. Because the Schistocephulus solidus infects the fish in order to be transmitted to the birds that they target, they expected the fish to exhibit some changes after being infected with the Schistocephulus solidus. However, they were unsure whether those changes would cause the threespine stickleback to change their behavior in regard to all predators, or simply in reg

While each of the papers studied the effect of Schistocephulus solidus infection on the threespine stickleback fish, they did not all investigate the same type of changes. Some of the researchers chose to concentrate on the physical changes that the Schistocephulus solidus infection had on the threespine stickleback fish. Other researchers focused on the behavioral changes caused by Schistocephulus solidus infection. The researchers came to a variety of conclusions. First, they determined that Schistocephulus solidus infection caused a decrease in body condition in both male and female fish, which was exacerbated in female fish during reproduction. In fact, some infected female fish lost reproductive capacity. Other physical changes included sluggish behavior, which increased the likelihood that the threespine stickleback fish would be eaten by predators. However, this sluggishness and decreased response to predators was not limited to those predators targeted by the Schistocephulus solidus. In fact, the threespine stickleback fish showed a decreased response to other predators, which could not act as hosts for the Schistocephulus solidus, such as trout. Surprisingly, the researchers also discovered that infection caused an increase in growth in the host fish. The greater the rate of increased growth in the host fish, the greater the rate of growth of the parasite. This increase in growth rate appeared to be independent of the fish's pre-infection behavior. All of the physical and behavioral changes observed in the infected threespine stickleback fish served to increase either their capability as a host to the Schistocephulus solidus or by increasing the likelihood that the threespine stickleback would be eaten by one of the Schistocephulus solidus' preferred hosts. The Schistocephulus solidus turned the threespine stickleback into better hosts by increasing the energy available to the tapeworm in such manners as increasing host size or decreasing the amount of energy allocated to reproductive concerns. The Schistocephulus solidus increased the likelihood that they would be eaten by predators by making them act more sluggishly in response to predators and by dec

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1477
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)