How to catch a parasite: Parasite Niche Modeler (PaNic) meets Fishbase
In: Ecography. Munksgaard International: Copenhagen. ISSN 0906-7590; e-ISSN 1600-0587, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Strona, G.
- Lafferty, K.D.
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| Abstract |
Parasite Niche Modeler (PaNic) is a free online software tool that suggests potential hosts for fish parasites. For a particular parasite species from the major helminth groups (Acanthocephala, Cestoda, Monogenea, Nematoda, Trematoda), PaNic takes data from known hosts (maximum body length, growth rate, life span, age at first maturity, trophic level, phylogeny, and biogeography) and hypothesizes similar fish species that might serve as hosts to that parasite. Users can give varying weights to host attributes and create custom models. In addition to suggesting plausible hosts (with varying degrees of confidence), the models indicate known host species that appear to be outliers in comparison to other known hosts. These unique features make PaNic an innovative tool for addressing both theoretical and applied questions in fish parasitology. |
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