Cause or consequence? Exploring authors' interpretations of correlations between fish body condition and parasite infection.

Abstract

We reviewed 194 publications that reported relationships between fish body condition indices (BCIs) and parasite infections, and examined the authors' intention behind this cross-sectional analysis, that is, whether authors interpreted the negative correlations as the negative effects of parasites or as fish with poor BCIs being more susceptible to infections. While 89% of studies only considered parasite infections as causes of poor BCI, studies acknowledging the opposite or bidirectional causal links were rare. We recommend considering both possibilities in any given fish host and parasite association.