Infected conspecifics avoidance in Lepomis gibbosus, Laurentides, Quebec [2022]

The experiments were carried out in the laboratory on wild caught pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus). For each individual, data were recorded on time spent with infected and uninfected conspecifics, lake of origin, total and standard length, body mass, spleen mass, sex, number of cestodes, trematodes and other parasites (yellow grub, white grub, nematodes).

The purposes of the data were to assess whether uninfected pumpkinseed sunfish display avoidance behaviour towards infected conspecifics, whether they can detect infection using chemical and/or visual cues and whether the expression of this behaviour is influenced by the level of parasite exposure of focal fish in their natural environment.