Individuals of the marine snail Trichotropis cancellata can either suspension feed or steal food from tube-dwelling polychaete worm hosts (kleptoparasitism). Because kleptoparasitism is facultative in this case, the performance of both members can be evaluated separately and together. I used field experiments to compare the growth of suspension feeding snails with that of snails (either singly ...

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine: 5-HT) is a multimodal transmitter that controls both feeding response and heartbeat in snails. However, the effects of 5-HT on the hunger state are still unknown. We therefore examined the relation among the hunger state, the heartbeat rate and the 5-HT action in food-starved snails. We found that the hunger state was significantly distinguished by the heartbeat ...

Schistosomiasis is a chronic, parasitic disease, infecting more than 207 million people, mostly from Africa, with an estimated 700 million people at risk in 74 endemic countries. One of strategies to eradicate this disease is biocontrol of its vector snail. Lab experiments and field survey have been carried out to investigate the impact and the relationship between the exotic crayfish; Procamba...

Lymnaea (Radix) auricularia rubiginosa (Michelin, 1831) was surveyed in 54 reservoirs of 18 districts in Amphoe Muang, Khon Kaen Province during February to May 1994. Lymnaeid snails were found in the water of 20 reservoirs, of which 16 reservoirs contained clear water and 4 turbid water. Two of the four turbid water reservoirs received drainage water from Khon Kaen Town. Two thousand four hund...

The molluscicidal evaluation of Euphorbia splendens var. hislopii (Crown of thorns) against Lymnaea columella snails, intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica, in irrigation ditches of the Pisciculture Station at Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, was studied under limited field conditions. An aqueous solution of the latex at 5 mg/l was tested in two irrigation ditches (experimental an...

Carboxylic acids play an important role in both aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways of both the snail and the parasite. Monitoring the effects of infection by schistosome on Biomphalaria alexandrina carboxylic acids metabolic profiles represents a promising additional source of information about the state of metabolic system. We separated and quantified pyruvic, fumaric, malic, oxalic, and...

In Sub-Saharan Africa, urogenital schistosomiasis remains a significant public health problem, causing 150.000 deaths/year with approximately 112 million cases diagnosed. The Niakhar district is a disease hotspot in central Senegal where transmission occurs seasonally with high prevalences. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of annual treatment over 3 years on the seasonal transm...

Thanks to Spatial Information Technologies (SITs) such as Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) that are being quickly developed and updated, SITs are being used more widely in the public health field. The use of SITs to study the characteristics of the temporal and spatial distribution of Schistosoma japonicum and to assess the risk of infection provides methods for the...

Ten naturally occurring compounds have been tested for molluscicidal activity against the fresh water snail, Biomphalaria alexandrina and the white garden snail, Theba pisana. The role of the synergist, piperonyl butoxide (PB) in improving the efficacy of these chemicals was also investigated. The results showed that thymol was the most effective against B. alexandrina snails, followed by trans...