Laboratory evaluation of Gambusia affinis fish as predators of the schistosome-bearing snails Bulinus truncatus.
In this laboratory-based study involving numerous experiments, it was demonstrated that the mosquito fish Gambusia affinis preys effectively upon the schistosome-bearing snail Bulinus truncatus, even in the presence of an alternative source of food. Egg masses and juvenile snails less than or equal to 2 mm in size are preferred. Individual eggs are nibbled, and the tiny snails with fragile shells are swallowed and digested. In the absence of other foods, the fish consume the flesh of snails 3 to 6 mm in size, leaving their empty shells intact. The larger snails are unharmed, but their offspring could be eradicated by the fish under favourable conditions.
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D002033:Bulinus / Q000469:parasitology; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012547:Schistosoma