Reporting the diet of recently extinct or very rare taxa, only known by a few museum specimens, is challenging. This study uses X-ray microtomography, a non-destructive investigation method, to obtain the first data about feeding behaviours in the Montserrat galliwasp (Diploglossus montisserrati) by scanning one of the two specimens known to date. The scans revealed the occurrence of shell frag...

Freshwater snails are known to serve as first intermediate hosts for various parasitic diseases such as schistosomosis and fasciolosis. Snails were collected on several occasions in the proximity of Pretoria, South Africa and their cercarial sheddings were studied. This article describes three different types of cercariae shed by the freshwater snail, Lymnaea natalensis, viz. a fork-tailed cerc...

Sometimes life is just too stressful. Whether you’re a freshwater snail struggling to breathe in a dwindling puddle or a student facing an assessment that could change your future, it can be hard to form memories when the pressure is on; even the smartest can struggle. ‘We have been exploring how stress alters both memory formation and the ability to recall memory for a number of years’, says K...

The purpose of the study was to record different intermediate hosts of A. cantonensis and to determine the infection prevalence and intensity of this parasite in freshwater snails in relation to some ecological and biological factors. The study was conducted at Al-Salam irrigation Canal and Al-Abtal village (north Sinai) for one year, from March 2004 to February 2005. Thirteen species of freshw...

Schistosomiasis, also known as Bilharzia, is a parasitic disease caused by waterborne snails that generally occurs in tropical countries, most notably in Sub-saharan Africa. The parasitic snail lays larvae in freshwater and these larvae burrow into the skin of the patient and enter the blood circulation. After the larvae mature into adults and mate, the females go on to lay eggs that infect the...

The environment, the on-going global climate change and the ecology of animal species determine the localisation of habitats and the geographical distribution of the various species in nature. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of such changes on snail species not only of interest to naturalists but also of importance to human and animal health. The spatial distribution of freshwa...

Human schistosomiasis is a common parasitic disease endemic in many tropical and subtropical countries. One barrier to achieving long-term control of this disease has been re-infection of treated patients when they swim, bathe, or wade in surface fresh water infested with snails that harbor and release larval parasites. Because some snail species are obligate intermediate hosts of schistosome p...