title: The unusual life cycle of Daubaylia potomaca, a nematode parasite of Helisoma anceps.
abstract: Daubaylia potomaca is a parasitic nematode that exhibits a direct life cycle using planorbid snails as their only host. Within the snail host Helisoma anceps , all developmental stages of the parasite are present at any given time. The nematode has an unusual life cycle, with the adult female being the infective stage rather than the third-stage larvae (L(3)), as is commonly the case in many other parasitic nematode life cycles. In addition, length analysis showed that L(1) and L(2) were not present in tissues, suggesting that larvae hatch from eggs as the L(3). Previous studies by other investigators show that adult females abandon Biomphalaria glabrata at some point between 3 and 9 days of host death; in the present study, adult female D. potomaca leave H. anceps up to 59 days (and a mean of 14.8 days) before host death. This observation indicates a striking physiological difference between an experimental and a natural host for the parasite.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106, USA. zimmmr8@wfu.edu
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Kyle E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Luth
authors.forename: Gerald W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Esch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008297:Male; D017168:Rhabditida / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D012908:Snails / Q000469:parasitology*