Note

Host Specificity and Survival Outside the Host

Klaus Rohde
Host specificity

Some aspidogastreans have been recorded from few host species, but most have a low degree of host specificity, i.e., they infect a wide range of host species. Thus, Aspidogaster conchicola infects many species of freshwater bivalves belonging to several families, as well as snails, many species of freshwater fishes of several families, and freshwater tortoises (references in Rohde, 1972).

Survival outside the host

Digenean trematodes have been cultured in various, complex, media. However, their parasitic stages die soon in water. In contrast, several aspidogastrean species were shown to survive in simple media for long periods. For example, A. conchicola survived in water for a fortnight, and in a mixture of water and saline solution for up to five weeks. L. manteri from fish could be kept alive for up to 13 days in dilute sea water (1:5) in which they laid eggs containing larvae infective to snails (references in Rohde, 1972).

References

Rohde, K. (1972). The Aspidogastrea, especially Multicotyle purvisi Dawes, 1941. Advances in Parasitology 10, 77 - 151.

Rohde, K. (1973). Structure and development of Lobatostoma manteri sp. nov. (Trematoda: Aspidogastrea) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Parasitology 66, 63-83.

About This Page

Klaus Rohde
University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia

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