Minchella, D.J., 1985. Host life history variation in response to parasitism. Parasitology, 90, 205—216.

The concept, proposed by Minchella (1985), is based on the idea that variations in the host life history in response to parasite infestation should be a common feature of any coadapting host—parasite systems. In the case, a strategy available to the host is to vary individual life history parameters in order to minimise the negative impact of parasitism on host reproductive success. To utilise this strategy an infected snail host has to improve its survival and to prolong its life in hopes of outlasting the infection and compensating with breeding output after repair. Enhanced growth of infected individuals may be viewed as a result of adopting the host—parasite system to both compromising parasite reproduction and, due to large body size, increasing host fecundity. In other words, the delayed host reproduction or the dischrony of a host and parasite breeding may be the successful coevolution strategy utilized in host - parasite systems. By combining the hypothesis with previous results, Minchella (1985) predicts gigantism in parasitized individuals of long-lived (perennial) snail species. Negative effects of parasitism on host reproduction in such snails are short-lived relative to the maximum life. In contrast, in short-lived (annual) host species gigantism should not be observed as a rule.