Experimental evidence of size/age-biased infection of Biomphalaria glabrata (Pulmonata: Planorbidae) by an incompatible parasite species: consequences for biological control.

Because the digenetic trematode Plagiorchis elegans can elicit a rapid, severe and permanent suppression of the reproductive output in the snail Biomphalaria glabrata, it is considered as a potential biological control agent of human schistosomiasis. This assumption however is derived from laboratory experiments that are poor approximations of what occurs in a natural ecosystem. In order to recreate conditions that resemble those found in nature, we exposed B. glabrata as individual populations composed of a young, juvenile and adult snails to various concentrations of P. elegans eggs to assess the probability of encountering the parasite eggs by the different snail sizes/age groups. We demonstrated that within populations composed of different size/age classes, larger/older snails displayed the negative effects typical of exposure to P. elegans, whereas smaller individuals appeared relatively unaffected, particularly at lower levels of exposure. These findings coupled with the difficulty of producing large quantities of parasite eggs suggest that P. elegans has limited efficiency as a biological control agent of human schistosomiasis.

Plagiorchis elegans (Trematoda) and incompatible snail hosts: implications for snail life history traits and biocontrol of human schistosomiasis.

We examined the effect of Plagiorchis elegans on egg production and survival on Bulinus truncatus and Helisoma trivolvis trivolvis. Both species are incompatible hosts for P. elegans. Helisoma t. trivolvis occurs sympatrically with P. elegans; B. truncatus does not. Overall, P. elegans had no effect on survivorship or egg production in H. t. trivolvis or on the survivorship of B. truncatus. Its effect on egg production in B. truncatus was transitory; egg production was reduced by 50% for 5 wk following exposure but returned to normal thereafter. Neither egg production nor survivorship was affected in adult H. t. trivolvis. Egg production ceased at 14 wk post-exposure (PE), but resumed when the snails were paired. Young H. t. trivolvis also produced eggs after exposure, but later than the adults and only after they had been paired with another snail. This suggests that a need for periodic cross-fertilization in H. t. trivolvis rather than the effect of the parasite is responsible for the cessation of egg production in this species. Survivorship in young H. t. trivolvis was significantly higher in exposed snails between wk 7 to 10 PE than in controls.