Search results for "trematoda"
showing 10 items of 193 documents
Cercarial Production of the Trematode Rhipidocotyle fennica in Clams Kept in the Field
1998
The numbers of cercariae that trematodes produce have been previously investigated in the laboratory but not in the field. I studied cercarial production of the bucephalid trematode Rhipidocotyle fennica in the freshwater unionid clam Anodonta piscinalis kept under natural conditions. Naturally infected clams (n = 180) were collected and marked in early June 1996. Every 14 days, starting from the collection date and ending in October, these clams were taken to the laboratory where they were monitored for the emergence of trematode cercariae. Between monitoring dates, the clams were returned to the collection site. From a random subsample of infected clams (n = 12), the number of cercariae p…
Protective immunity against Echinostoma caproni in rats is induced by Syphacia muris infection.
2012
Syphacia muris (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) is a ubiquitous nematode that commonly infects rats in the laboratory and can interfere with the development of unrelated biological assays. In this context, we analysed the effect of a patent S. muris infection in Wistar rats on a superimposed infection with the intestinal trematode, Echinostoma caproni (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae). The results indicate that in the rats, infection with S. muris induces an immunity against a subsequent infection with E. caproni, although each parasite occupies different niches in the host. Echinostoma caproni worm recovery was significantly decreased in the rats primarily infected with S. muris and, at 3 and 4 weeks pos…
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE BEHAVIORAL TRAITS IN A COMMUNITY OF FURCOCERCARIAE TREMATODES: TOOLS FOR SPECIES SEPARATION?
2008
Many trematode cercariae show distinct behavioral features, which have commonly been used in species identification in combination with morphological characteristics. However, information regarding cercariae behavior has often not been quantified in detail, or it is scattered in the literature, which is why the appropriate level of precision in behavioral identity, particularly in groups of cercariae species showing considerable morphological overlap, has not been properly established. In this study, we investigated one such group, the furcocercariae trematodes, by studying their behavior in a community consisting of 8 species (Diplostomum pseudospathaceum, Ichthyocotylurus variegatus, Coty…
Susceptibility of eye fluke-infected fish to predation by bird hosts.
2005
Host manipulation by trophically transmitted parasites may predispose infected hosts to predation and in this way enhance parasite transmission. In most study systems, however, the evidence comes from laboratory studies, and therefore knowledge of the effect of manipulation on parasite transmission efficiency in the wild is still limited. Here we examined the effect ofDiplostomum spathaceum(Trematoda) eye flukes on the susceptibility of fish intermediate hosts to predation by bird definitive hosts. Our earlier studies have shown that the parasite alters fish phenotype and increases their susceptibility to artificial predation under laboratory conditions. In the present field study, we allow…
The Northern Bolivian Altiplano: a region highly endemic for human fascioliasis.
1999
The worldwide importance of human infection by Fasciola hepatica has been recognized in recent years. The endemic region between Lake Titicaca and the valley of La Paz, Bolivia, at 3800-4100 m altitude, presents the highest prevalences and intensities recorded. Large geographical studies involving Lymnaea truncatula snails (malacological, physico-chemical, and botanic studies of 59, 28 and 30 water bodies, respectively, inhabited by lymnaeids; environmental mean temperature studies covering a 40-year period), livestock (5491 cattle) and human coprological surveys (2723 subjects, 2521 of whom were school children) were conducted during 1991-97 to establish the boundaries and distributional c…
Comparison of adult liver flukes from highland and lowland populations of Bolivian and Spanish sheep.
2000
A morphological study of adult liver flukes and eggs from sheep in a human fascioliasis endemic zone in the Northern Bolivian Altiplano showed that they belong to the species Fasciola hepatica. An exhaustive morphometric comparison with a F. hepatica population from Spanish sheep was made using image analysis and an allometric model: (y2m - y2)]#x002F;y2 = c[(y1m - y1)/y1]b, where y1 = body surface or body length, y2 = one of the measurements analysed, y1m, y2m = maximum values towards which y1 and y2 respectively tend, and c, b = constants. Only slight allometric differences in worms were observed despite the geographic distance between both Spanish and Bolivian sheep populations and the v…
Developmental differences in the uterus of Fasciola hepatica between livestock liver fluke populations from Bolivian highlands and European lowlands
2001
A morphometric study of the uterus area (UA) of Fasciola hepatica adults was carried out with the aid of a computer linked to a stereomicroscopic 3CCD colour video camera using image analysis software. The UA of adult liver flukes found in naturally infected sheep, cattle and pig from the endemic human fascioliasis zone of the northern Bolivian Altiplano highlands was compared with that of flukes found infecting sheep and cattle from Valencia, Spain and cattle from Corsica, France (collectively, European lowlands). Liver fluke UA was examined using an allometric model. A comparison of the allometry of the liver fluke UA in different host species from Bolivia revealed no significant differen…
Parasite assemblages of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) – is depauperate composition explained by lack of parasite exchange, extreme environmental…
2005
Recent studies on parasite communities have considered the factors which contribute to variability in parasite infections among populations of one host species. This paper examined parasite assemblages of crucian carp (Carassius carassius) in a natural set-up of two distinctive environments inhabited by the same host species and differing in respect to composition of other fish species: ponds, where extreme conditions prevent other fish species from occurring and lakes, where crucian carp coexist with other fish species. Our aim was to evaluate the significance of parasite exchange, environmental conditions and host suitability for the depauperate parasite assemblages observed in pond cruci…
Fish population size, and not density, as the determining factor of parasite infection: a case study.
2004
The diversity and abundance of parasites vary widely among populations of the same host species. These infection parameters are, to some extent, determined by characteristics of the host population or of its habitat. Recent studies have supported predictions derived from epidemiological models regarding the influence of host population density: parasite abundance and parasite species richness are expected to increase with increasing host population density, at least for directly transmitted parasites. Here, we test this prediction using a natural system in which populations of the crucian carp, Carassius carassius (L.), occur alone, with no other fish species, in a series of 9 isolated pond…
Production and chronobiology of emergence of the cercariae of Euparyphium albuferensis (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae).
1999
The production and the chronobiology of emergence of the cercariae of Euparyphium albuferensis from Gyraulus chinensis experimentally infected with a single miracidium were established during 28 consecutive days from the first day of cercarial shedding. Moreover, the effect of a sudden change in light-dark cycling was investigated. Although the daily cercarial shedding rates show great variability, a progressive increase in cercarial production was observed in the first weeks of the cercarial shedding periods, probably in relation to the demography of intramollusean larval stages. Under 12:12 light-dark cycling condition;, it, albuferensis cercariae emerged in the light, and the rhythm was …