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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(355) EFFECTS OF A PARASITIC TREMATODE ON REPRODUCTION OF THE STREAM SNAIL ELIMIA FLAVA (LEA).
K.K. Lenertz, J.W. Feminella, and R.P. Henry. Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849-9234
Snails in the genus Elimia (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) are important grazers of periphyton in southeastern streams, where they are also naturally infected by parasitic trematodes. In an earlier study we demonstrated that trematode infection can reduce consumption of periphyton by E. flava, a snail population infected with a cotylomicrocercous trematode. The present study was designed to investigate the association between trematode infection and snail reproductive condition, assessed by examining gonadal development in male and female snails over a range of parasite densities. Gonadal development of E. flava and parasite load were visually inspected and quantified (ranked as zero, low, or high development/load) for snails collected from Choctafaula Ck, AL, during Summer 1999. Trematode infection negatively influenced development in host snails of both sexes; high infections resulted in apparent reproductive castration, likely resulting from chemical rather than mechanical means. Snail glucose and glycogen levels are currently being assayed to determine if castration corresponds with depletion of carbohydrate reserves. Castrated snails may require lower energy inputs than reproductively active snails, accounting for the lower food consumption levels of parasitized individuals.
Presented at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, May 31, 2000 in Biotic Interactions
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