Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Manuel Calvopina, Carlos Bastidas-Caldes, Francisco Romero, Irina Villacres-Granda, Jean-Pierre Pointier, Hidekazu Takagi, Hiromu Sugiyama
Summary: This study reports the identification of the snail intermediate host for the Amphimerus liver fluke, a foodborne trematodiasis. Through morphological identification and molecular analysis, Aroapyrgus sp. was identified as the first intermediate host for Amphimerus in Ecuador. The findings contribute to the understanding and control of this parasite in endemic regions.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Miroslava Soldanova, Petra Kundid, Tomas Scholz, Roar Kristoffersen, Rune Knudsen
Summary: Phenotypic polymorphism is rarely observed in free-living stages of parasites, but a unique case of somatic polymorphism in conspecific cercariae of Trichobilharzia sp. peregra was described here. Two distinct size morphs were identified, with small individuals being the normal phenotype in snail populations. The causes and consequences of generating a larger alternative phenotype in the parasite infrapopulation were discussed in the context of transmission ecology.
Article
Microbiology
Paulo R. S. Coelho, Fabricio T. O. Ker, Amanda D. Araujo, Hudson A. Pinto, Deborah A. Negrao-Correa, Roberta L. Caldeira, Stefan M. Geiger
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the ecological aspects related to the distribution pattern of medically important and native freshwater mollusks in a rural municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The findings revealed the similarity in distribution between an endangered species, Stenophysa marmorata, and the medically important Biomphalaria species, highlighting the need for controlling intermediate hosts and conserving endangered species.
Article
Microbiology
Miroslava Soldanova, Ana Born-Torrijos, Roar Kristoffersen, Rune Knudsen, Per-Arne Amundsen, Tomas Scholz
Summary: This study investigated the daily cercarial emergence rhythms of bird schistosomes in a subarctic lake and found a circadian rhythm with the highest emergence during the morning hours. These patterns were independent of the photo- and thermo-period regimes and showed relatively high production of cercariae at low temperatures.
Article
Parasitology
M. J. Merlo, M. Parietti, M. Fernandez, V Flores, D. Davies
Summary: This study presents a checklist of larval digeneans parasitising molluscs from inland waters of Argentina. Based on a survey of 113 scientific articles and nine theses, a total of 213 digeneans belonging to 13 superfamilies and 35 families were recorded. The parasites were found in 102 locations, covering eight of the sixteen biogeographical provinces in Argentina.
JOURNAL OF HELMINTHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Nikolaus Helmer, Hubert Blatterer, Christoph Hoerweg, usanne Reier, Helmut Sattmann, Julia Schindelar, Nikolaus U. Szucsich, Elisabeth Haring
Summary: Several species of avian schistosomes can cause dermatitis in humans globally, with Trichobilharzia species being predominant in Europe. In Austria, although there is abundant data on cercarial dermatitis and the occurrence of Trichobilharzia, species identification is often uncertain due to morphological challenges. The discovery of a previously unknown species, Trichobilharzia physellae, in freshwater snails in Austria suggests a possible recent introduction of this parasite into Europe, with a close genetic relationship to North American specimens.
Article
Parasitology
Pichit Wiroonpan, Thapana Chontananarth, Watchariya Purivirojkul
Summary: The study investigated prevalence, morphological characteristics, and molecular classifications of trematode cercariae in freshwater snails in Bangkok. Out of 15,621 snails examined, 517 were infected with trematode cercariae, with 11 species identified. Mutabile cercaria showed the highest prevalence of infection, while Physella acuta snail exhibited the lowest.
Article
Parasitology
Murilo S. Queiroz, Philippe Alves, Danimar Lopez-Hernandez, Luciano A. Anjos, Hudson A. Pinto
Summary: Research on a poorly studied intestinal trematode species, Catadiscus marinholutzi, found in anurans in Brazil revealed morphological and molecular similarities between adult parasites in anurans and cercariae in planorbid snails from the same waterbody. Phylogenetic analysis also showed uncertainty regarding the position of Catadiscus within the superfamily Paramphistomoidea, highlighting the need for further studies to re-evaluate the species composition of Diplodiscidae.
Article
Parasitology
Andre Schultz Lopes, Eduardo Alberto Pulido-Murillo, Danimar Lopez-Hernandez, Alan Lane de Melo, Hudson Alves Pinto
Summary: Xiphidiocercariae larvae were found in invasive snails Melanoides tuberculata during a survey in Ceará-Mirim, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil, with similarities to larvae described in different regions. Molecular analysis identified the larvae as an unidentified species of the family Lecithodendriidae, possibly newly introduced in the American continent.
PARASITOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Niall McGinty, Andrew J. Irwin, Zoe V. Finkel, Stephanie Dutkiewicz
Summary: Zooplankton are important components of marine ecosystems and global biogeochemical and ecosystem models, however, there is no data product available to validate zooplankton model output. In this study, we develop a procedure to link irregular and sparse observations of mesozooplankton biomass with model output, and assess regional seasonality of mesozooplankton. Our analysis shows strong correlations and little bias between model and data in temperate regions, but significant discrepancies in tropical regions. We also identify well-represented taxonomic groups in the model. This partition-scale comparison captures important matches and mismatches between data and models, suggesting that improving models by incorporating trait differences and mixotrophy could enhance model-data comparisons.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Nikolaus Helmer, Christoph Hoerweg, Helmut Sattmann, Susanne Reier, Nikolaus U. Szucsich, Jana Bulantova, Elisabeth Haring
Summary: We developed and evaluated species-specific PCR primers for detecting Trichobilharzia species using eDNA barcoding in Austrian water bodies. The primers successfully identified T. szidati and T. physellae from both field eDNA samples and lab-generated samples. However, there was considerable variation in replicate results. PCR tests on aquarium water, where cercariae had been released, still detected eDNA even after 44 days. Sensitivity tests showed successful amplification down to concentrations of 0.83 pg/mu L and 0.008 pg/mu L for genomic DNA and PCR products of T. szidati, respectively. The study highlights the potential misidentification risks associated with presumed species-specific PCR primers.
Article
Microbiology
Harshana Rajakaruna, Anne Willem Omta, Eric Carr, David Talmy
Summary: By re-analyzing previous data, we found that the relationship between microbial predator and prey densities is linear, contradicting previous studies reporting sublinear relationships. We also found that the ratios between predators and prey are invariant on average, contrary to previous assumptions.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alexander Vereshchaka, Ludmila Anokhina, Dmitry Kulagin, Anastasiia Lunina
Summary: Mesoplankton plays a crucial role in the pelagic communities and is the largest biome on Earth. The precision of mesoplankton sampling is still not well explored, but its abundance has a significant influence on sampling precision. Other factors like net type and taxonomic group also affect sampling precision. Size, movement speed, and diel migrations do not significantly influence sampling precision. This study suggests that current concepts based on total mesoplankton abundance and biomass are not greatly biased.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Parasitology
Horacio Lozano-Cobo, Alejandro Oceguera-Figueroa, Claudia A. Silva-Segundo, Carlos J. Robinson, Jaime Gomez-Gutierrez
Summary: This study discovered larval didymozoids parasitizing zooplankton in the Gulf of California. The infection route of the larvae was inferred through morphological and molecular evidence, and different didymozoid species were identified. It is the first time DNA sequences of the cox1 gene from didymozoid larvae have been obtained for a zooplankton taxonomic group.
PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Oceanography
Lian E. Kwong, Tetjana Ross, Florian Luskow, Katie R. N. Florko, Evgeny A. Pakhomov
Summary: This study investigates the impact of climatic variability on energy flows through pelagic communities by analyzing the biomass size spectra (NBSS) of mesozooplankton samples collected along a subarctic Northeast Pacific coastal-to-open ocean transect. The study finds significant seasonality and spatial variability in NBSS, with the strongest effects near the coast. Surface chlorophyll-a concentration is identified as the most influential environmental factor on NBSS. The study highlights the importance of understanding how climate-induced changes affect zooplankton communities with varying species composition.
PROGRESS IN OCEANOGRAPHY
(2022)