Of the 18 trematode species that use the horn snail, Cerithidea californica, as a first intermediate host, 6 have the potential to use raccoons as a final host. The presence of raccoon latrines in Carpinteria Salt Marsh, California, allowed us to investigate associations between raccoons and trematodes in snails. Two trematode species, Probolocoryphe uca and Stictodora hancocki, occurred at hig...

We purposively selected 39 sampling sites along the Mara River and its two perennial tributaries of Amala and Nyangores and sampled snails. In addition, water physicochemical parameters (temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, alkalinity, salinity and pH) were taken to establish their influence on the snail abundance and habitat preference. Out of the 39 sites sampled, 10 (25.6%...

Parasitism is believed to play an important role in maintaining species diversity, for instance by facilitating coexistence between competing host species. However, the possibility that environmental factors may govern the outcome of parasite-mediated competition has rarely been considered. The closely related amphipods Corophium volutator and Corophium arenarium both serve as second intermedia...

Brachylaima cribbi is a terrestrial trematode of birds and mammals with helicid and hygromiid land snails reported as first and second intermediate hosts. However, reports describing the first intermediate host range of B. cribbi have been limited to those snail species present in a small number of geographical locations in South Australia. The natural first intermediate host range, distributio...

Schistosomiasis mansoni remains an important parasitic disease of man, endemic in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South America and the Caribbean. The aetiological agent is the trematode Schistosoma mansoni, whereas aquatic snails of the genus Biomphalaria act as intermediate hosts in the parasite life cycle. In Brazil, the distribution of Biomphalaria spp. is closely associ...

background: fasciolosis in livestock is a crucial concern in the globe, mainly due to its impact on human health. the aim of this study was to determine the rate of infection with fasciola gigantica (cobbold, 1855) larvae in the field-collected snails of lymnaea auricularia (linnaeus, 1785) from northwestern iran using a molecular approach. methods : a total of 6,759 pond snails were collected ...

Experimental infections of Egyptian Radix natalensis with French miracidia of Fasciola hepatica were carried out to determine if this snail might act as an intermediate host in the life cycle of this digenean in Egypt. Single exposures of R. natalensis to miracidia (2/snail) and two successive exposures (a total of 4 miracidia/ snail) were performed using lymnaeids measuring 1 to 6 mm in height...

Seasonal fluctuations of host densities and environmental factors are common in many ecosystems and have consequences for biotic interactions, such as the transmission of parasites and pathogens. Here, we investigated seasonal patterns in all host stages associated with the complex life cycle of the intertidal trematode Maritrema novaezealandensis on a mudflat where this parasite’s prevalence i...

  Trematodes are important in economic and public health. Ornithobilharzia turkestanicum (O. turkestanicum) is one of the important economic trematodes in domestic animals. Ornithobilharzia infection in intermediate host (Lymnaea gedrosiana ) can be detected by either exposing snails to light to induce cercarial shedding or by squeezing them between glass slides to detect parasites. The current...

background: the present study was carried out to detect the infection of larval stages of trichobilharzia species in the snail lymnaea auricularia in northwestern iran based on dna analysis. methods: a total number of 320 snails of l. auricularia were sampled from four water-bodies located in the suburb of urmia city, north west iran, during may to november 2011. the snails were first microscop...