Challenge infections of Gyrodactylus bullatamdis (Monogenea) on guppies, Poecilia reticulata (Peters), following treatment

The effects of an initial infection of Gyrodactylus bullatarudis on a challenge infection were investigated using guppies, Poecilia reticulala, by terminating the initial infection after 1 or 2 weeks and immediately reinfecting the fish. Establishment success, mean parasite population size, peak parasite burden, time to peak burden and duration of the infection were all significantly lower in the challenge infections than in the respective initial or control infections. These parameters did not differ significantly between the 1‐ and 2‐week challenge groups.