Emergence of New Snail Species and Cercariae on Jakara Dam

Abstract

Fresh water snails in Jakara dam were investigated for different types of cercariae. Snails were collected from different parts of the dam in Minjibir, Ugoggo and Gezawa local government area between October 2016 and January 2017 by hand picking only and placed separately in compartmented petridishes for cercarial shedding. Result showed that twenty one snail species from two families comprising Lymnaeidae and Planorbidae were encountered. Bulinus species collected are B. globosus morelet, B. reticulatus, B. truncatus rohlfsi, B truncatus truncatus Egypt, B jousseammei, B. succinoides and B. camerunensis. Fourteen species of Lymnea were encountered from different parts of the dam. Lymnea species encountered are Peplimnea affinus ((Küster,1862), Lymnea (Pseudosuccina) columella, L. natalensis, Lymnaea ollula, L. tormentosa, L.auricularis rubiginosa with one of them shedding more than a hundred cercariae. Most of these lymnea species cannot be identified or named. Twelve different types of cercaria were discovered but only nine of them were presumably identified as Virgulate, Ubiquita, Gymnocephalus, Amphistome, Echinostome, Armatae cercaria, Parapleurolophocercous cercariae, Ornatae and Fucocercus cercaria (videos of swimming available), three of them cannot be identified. Lymnea species from Bangare showed the most infection with one of them shedding more than a hundred cercariae. There was no schistosome cercariae. This is the first time more than three types of cercariae were observed in Jakara dam. Data analysis was done descriptively. The presence of these new types of cercariae may not be unconnected with the presence of different species of Lymnea encountered in the water body and may mean a new trend in trematode infection.