0000000000331214
AUTHOR
Anna Faltýnková
Furcocercous cercariae (Trematoda) from freshwater snails in Central Finland
AbstractA total of eight species of furcocercous cercariae of four families (Strigeidae, Diplostomidae, Schistosomatidae and Sanguinicolidae), were found in 2005 in Lake Konnevesi in Central Finland in four snail species (Valvata macrostoma, Lymnaea stagnalis, Bathyomphalus contortus and Planorbarius corneus). Australapatemon burti (Miller, 1923), Australapatemon sp., Cotylurus brevis Dubois et Rausch, 1950, Cercaria spinulosa Ginetsinskaya, 1959 and Sanguinicola sp. are new species records for Finland. Ichthyocotylurus variegatus (Creplin, 1825) and Bilharziella polonica (Kowalewski, 1895) were first recorded as cercariae in Finland. The most common cercariae were A. burti (prevalence 13.3…
Infection, specificity and host manipulation of Australapatemon sp. (Trematoda, Strigeidae) in two sympatric species of leeches (Hirudinea)
SUMMARYFactors that drive parasite specificity and differences in infection dynamics among alternative host species are important for ecology and evolution of host–parasite interactions, but still often poorly known in natural systems. Here, we investigated spatiotemporal dynamics of infection, host susceptibility and parasite-induced changes in host phenotype in a rarely explored host–parasite system, theAustralapatemonsp. trematode infecting two sympatric species of freshwater leeches,Erpobdella octoculataandHelobdella stagnalis. We show significant variation in infection abundance between the host species in both space and time. Using experimental infections, we also show that most of th…
Schistosomes in the north: a unique finding from a prosobranch snail using molecular tools.
article i nfo Samples of schistosome cercariae from three different snail species (Lymnaea stagnalis, Radix auricularia and Valvata (Tropidina) macrostoma) collected from lakes in Central Finland were analyzed using molecular techniques. Based on sequences of ITS region of rDNA, the parasite isolates from L. stagnalis and R. auricularia belong to Trichobilharzia szidati and T. franki, respectively. This confirms a wide distribution of these two species in Europe. On the other hand, the isolates from V. macrostoma represent a unique finding — they belong to yet unknown schistosome species falling into the bird schistosome clade. Therefore, identification of natural final hosts and morphologi…
Being successful in the world of narrow opportunities: transmission patterns of the trematode Ichthyocotylurus pileatus.
SUMMARYParasites with complex life cycles face 2 major challenges for transmission in northern latitudes. They have to cope with the general unpredictability associated with the series of transmission events required for completion of the cycle, and transmission has to be completed within a narrow temporal window because of strong seasonality. Despite this, some parasites show high transmission success, suggesting the operation of effective transmission mechanisms. We explored the transmission of Ichthyocotylurus pileatus (Trematoda) from its snail (Valvata macrostoma) to fish (Perca fluviatilis) hosts by examining some key characteristics in the dynamics of the cercarial emergence from sna…
Spatial and temporal structure of the trematode component community inValvata macrostoma(Gastropoda, Prosobranchia)
SUMMARYWe conducted the first comprehensive study on the spatiotemporal structure of trematode communities in the large-mouthed valve snail,Valvata macrostoma. A total of 1103 snails were examined monthly between May and October 2007 from Lake Konnevesi, Central Finland, from a shallow (1–2 m deep) and an offshore site (5–6 m deep), located ca. 50–70 m apart. Snails were infected by 10 trematode species. The species composition and prevalence were strikingly different between the sites with high species diversity in the shallow site (all 10 species; total prevalence of sporocysts/rediae 12·1%, metacercariae 55·4%) compared to the deeper site (3 species; prevalence 15·0% and 1·9%, respective…
Establishment and interspecific associations in two species of Ichthyocotylurus (Trematoda) parasites in perch (Perca fluviatilis)
Abstract Background Co-infections of multiple parasite species in hosts may lead to interspecific associations and subsequently shape the structure of a parasite community. However, few studies have focused on these associations in highly abundant parasite species or, in particular, investigated how the associations develop with time in hosts exposed to co-infecting parasite species for the first time. We investigated metacercarial establishment and interspecific associations in the trematodes Ichthyocotylurus variegatus and I. pileatus co-infecting three age cohorts of young perch (Perca fluviatilis). Results We found that the timing of transmission of the two Ichthyocotylurus species was …