Larval productivity of Fasciola gigantica in two lymnaeid snails.
Two groups of Galba truncatula and two groups of Lymnaea natalensis were experimentally infected with Fasciola gigantica to determine if snail species had an influence on the redial burden and cercarial shedding of this trematode when snails of both species were infected with the same isolate of miracidia. In the two groups used for the study of redial burden, the total number of free rediae was significantly higher at day 49 post-exposure in L. natalensis than in G. truncatula. In the groups used for cercarial shedding, the life-span of cercaria-shedding snails and those of infected snails which died without cercarial emission, and the duration of the prepatent period were significantly longer in L. natalensis than those noted in G. truncatula. However, the mean numbers of shed cercariae did not significantly differ and showed no differences in their daily distribution throughout the shedding period. These results demonstrate that G. truncatula might be the principal intermediate host of F. gigantica in Egypt, at least in the areas where this lymnaeid species lives.
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Tanta, Tanta, Egypt.
Y
Y
Dar
P
P
Vignoles
D
D
Rondelaud
G
G
Dreyfuss
D000818:Animals; D005209:Fasciola / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007814:Larva; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000469:parasitology*; D012098:Reproduction