Evaluation of the reproductive profile of Subulina octona (Gastropoda, Subulinidae) experimentally infected by Paratanaisia bragai (Digenea, Eucotylidae)

Abstract

Snails infected by trematodes may increase or decrease their reproductive activity in response to the presence of infection. Our aim was to verify the reproductive alterations in Subulina octona after infection by Paratanaisia bragai. The infected snails were individually exposed for 24 hours to 20 parasite eggs and four groups were formed (10, 20, 30 and 40 d.p.i.- days after infection), along with control groups. Every 10 days, the number of eggs in the reproductive tract, number of eggs hatched, galactogen content and histopathological changes were evaluated. The reproductive in the control and infected snails presented an alternating pattern, where periods of high production of eggs and newly hatched were followed by periods of low production. However, in relation to the amount of galactogen, both control and infected groups followed the same pattern of variation. In the histology, we observed the presence of male and female gametes with marked reduction in the number of oocytes. The results indicate that the intra-snail development of the parasite affects the reproductive biology of the host.

Morphology and morphometry of Paratanaisia bragai () Freitas, 1959 (Digenea, Eucotylidae) through light and scanning electron microscopy

“…Paratanaisia bragai (Santos, 1934) Freitas, 1959 is a digenetic trematode that reaches sexual maturity in the kidney collecting ducts of domestic and wild birds as its definitive hosts, with the snails Subulina octona (Bruguière, 1798) and Leptinaria unilamellata (d'Orbigny, 1837) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata) serving as its intermediate hosts, in which larval development occurs, the latter being considered the intermediate host in Brazil (Brandolini et al, 1997;Bonfim et al, 2021).…”