info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Survey of trematodes in intertidal snails from Patagonia, Argentina: new larval forms and diversity assessment
Fecha
2018-05Registro en:
Gilardoni, Carmen Mariangel; Di Giorgio, Gisele Vanesa; Bagnato, Estefanía; Cremonte, Florencia; Survey of trematodes in intertidal snails from Patagonia, Argentina: new larval forms and diversity assessment; Cambridge University Press; Journal Of Helminthology; 93; 3; 5-2018; 342-351
0022-149X
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Gilardoni, Carmen Mariangel
Di Giorgio, Gisele Vanesa
Bagnato, Estefanía
Cremonte, Florencia
Resumen
Larval trematodes are the main parasites of snails, and they play a crucial role because they usually castrate their snail hosts and can thus alter their population and community dynamics. This study involved a survey of seven gastropod species (Crepipatella dilatata, Fissurella radiosa, Nacella magellanica, Pareuthria fuscata, Siphonaria lessonii, S. lateralis and Trophon geversianus) parasitized by 12 trematode species (one hemiurid, one gymnophallid, two lepocreadiids, two microphallids, one notocotylid, two renicolids, one philophtalmid, one schistosomatid and one zoogonid) from southern Patagonia (47°S, 65°W), Argentina. Only F. radiosa was free of parasites. The study included the description of five new larvae, based on morphological and molecular information, and a comparison of the parasite diversity with that of a northern locality (42°S, 64°W), characterized by a lower mollusc diversity. Species richness and diversity of parasites were higher in the southern site. This suggests a correlation between the level of parasitism and the diversity of molluscs (first intermediate hosts), which is higher at the high-latitude site and seems to attract shorebirds, which disperse the digenean eggs and facilitate the completion of their life cycles. These results support the notion that parasitism is influenced by large-scale factors such as biogeographical patterns, and small-scale factors such as diversity or abundance of intermediate and definitive hosts.