Prestigious research prize awarded to student who studied parasitic infections in aquatic invertebrates with Amy Fowler
Biology major Kathryn Orlosky was awarded the University Libraries 2025 Undergraduate Student Research Prize for her paper, “Temporal and Coinfection Dynamics of Parasite Prevalence and Intensity in Two Estuarine Hosts.” The selection committee noted, “Ms. Orlosky’s work clearly demonstrated a careful research design and presented her methods and results in a remarkably cogent and thoughtful manner. Her work filled an important gap in the scholarly literature for her field and it represents important findings to help better understand the complexity of parasites in crabs and shrimp to the ecosystem in the region.”
Kathryn completed the Undergraduate Biology Research Semester with associate professor of aquatic ecology, parasitology, and invasions in the Department of Environmental Science Amy Fowler and Sarah Goodnight, a post-doc in the Fowler Aquatic Biology Lab (aka the "FAB" lab).
A brief description of the research project:
Aquatic invertebrates are hosts for many parasites that can impact host reproduction and community structure. The mud crab species Rhithropanopeus harrisii is parasitized by three distinct taxa examined in this study: two species of endoparasitic trematode cysts, an invasive parasitic castrating barnacle (Loxothylacus panopaei), and the isopod Cancrion carolinus. The grass shrimp, Palaemon pugio, is infected by two distinct taxa examined in this study: trematode cysts and a bopyrid isopod (Probopyrus pandalicola). While the geographic range and life histories of these parasites are relatively well-characterized, coinfection and temporal dynamics in infection prevalence have not been examined. We aimed to study seasonal coinfection dynamics in R. harrisii and P. pugio and compare infection prevalence and intensity between the two host species. R. harrisii and P. pugio were collected from marinas on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers (approximately 100 crabs and 100 shrimp per site) once per month between October 2023 and October 2024. The crabs and shrimp were dissected and identified to species, and parasite presence and intensity were recorded for each taxon. Preliminary results show that infection prevalence and intensity of trematode cysts was highest in late fall in P. pugio, while highest in winter months for R. harrisii. While more trematode cysts were found in P. pugio infected with the bopyrid isopod P. pandalicola as well as in R. harrisii infected with the invasive barnacle parasite L. panopaei, no clear coinfection patterns were observed in R. harrisii infected with the isopod C. carolinus. Aquatic parasites can greatly impact trophic interactions in both their native and non-native ranges. Long-term monitoring and research on parasite populations are critical to mitigate future parasite invasions and fully characterize parasite-host dynamics across temporal scales.
Pictures and research project summary provided by Amy Fowler.
