AI Article Synopsis
- Melanoides tuberculatus, an introduced gastropod, serves as an intermediate host for the human-pathogenic trematode Centrocestus formosanus.
- The study used an image analysis system to track the locomotory activity of infected vs. uninfected snails, revealing that infected snails showed reduced and irregular movement patterns.
- Results indicated that the presence of C. formosanus significantly alters the locomotion of M. tuberculatus, independent of the snail's size.
Article Abstract
Background: Melanoides tuberculatus (Müller, 1774) (Thiaridae), an introduced gastropod mollusc with a wide geographical distribution in the Neotropics, is the intermediate host of the trematode Centrocestus formosanus (Nishigori, 1924) (Heterophyidae). This parasite is considered to be pathogenic to humans. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the locomotory activity of uninfected M. tuberculatus compared with those naturally infected with C. formosanus.
Findings: The locomotory activity of each mollusc was recorded using an image analysis biomonitoring system, Videomex-V, to evaluate and quantify the parameters of 'Stereotypic' and 'Resting time'. The Generalized Estimating Equation analysis of locomotory activity of M. tuberculatus infected with C. formosanus revealed significant differences compared with uninfected molluscs for the parameters 'Stereotypic time' and 'Resting time' with a reduction of movement. The variations in the values of the monitoring intervals recorded showed a significant difference for the infected molluscs in the case of Stereotypic time, with an irregular locomotory activity pattern, as compared to that of uninfected molluscs. The analysis of the standard length of all molluscs did not exhibit any correlation with locomotory activity, showing that C. formosanus is able to alter the locomotory activity of its snail host regardless of the standard length.
Conclusions: The trematode C. formosanus affects the locomotory activity of the mollusc M. tuberculatus by reducing its movement and causing it to exhibit an irregular pattern of activity, both of which are independent of the snail's standard length.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3635958 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-6-92 | DOI Listing |
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