Prevalence of cercariae from Lymnaea stagnalis snails in a pond system in Southern Germany (original) (raw)

Abstract.

Lymnaea stagnalis snails were collected from 174 individual ponds of an extensive pond system in South Germany; 43,441 snails collected during 1980–2000 were examined for shedding cercariae. The species richness (at least 18 species of cercariae) and the high cercarial prevalence (at least 44.9%) may result from the high abundance and diversity of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts in the area. The mean prevalence (%± SEM) of most cercarial species increased from May–June to August–October, e.g. in Diplostomum spathaceum from 4.1% to 18.6%, in all echinostomatids from 5.6% to 18.0%, in Pseudechinoparyphium echinatum from 3.0% to 11.2%, in Xiphidiocercariae from 2.2% to 13.4%, and the overall prevalence shifted from 13.7% to 53.5%. There was no change in the prevalence of the different cercarial species over the last 20 years. The agents of cercarial dermatitis showed a constant low prevalence, 0.17% in Trichobilharzia ocellata (43,441 L. stagnalis examined) and 0.24% in other Trichobilharzia species (4,245 Radix examined). Such low prevalences seem to be normal in areas where cercarial dermatitis occurs in humans.

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  1. Institut für Zoologie I, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstrasse 5, 91058 Erlangen, Germany, , , , ,
    C. Loy & W. Haas

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Loy, .C., Haas, .W. Prevalence of cercariae from Lymnaea stagnalis snails in a pond system in Southern Germany.Parasitol Res 87, 878–882 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004360100462

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