AUTHOR=Malatji Mokgadi P. , Myende Nkululeko , Mukaratirwa Samson 

TITLE=Are Freshwater Snails, Melanoides sp. and Invasive Tarebia granifera (Gastropoda: Thiaridae) Suitable Intermediate Hosts for Calicophoron microbothrium (Trematoda: Paramphistomoidea)? An Experimental Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.705954

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2021.705954

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p>Prosobranch snails and adult Paramphistomoidea flukes were collected from water bodies and cattle abattoir located in Mpumalanga province of South Africa, respectively. The snails were identified based on morphological characters as well as the ITS-2 and 16S markers as <italic>Melanoides</italic> sp. and <italic>Tarebia granifera</italic>, respectively, and the Paramphistomoidea flukes were identified as <italic>Calicophoron microbothrium</italic> using the ITS-1/5.8S/ITS-2 marker. After confirming identification, the snails were bred to first filial generation (F1) under laboratory conditions. Ninety snails were randomly selected from the laboratory-bred F1 snails and 25 <italic>Melanoides</italic> sp. and 20 <italic>T. granifera</italic> were exposed to <italic>C. microbothrium</italic> miracidia, and the same numbers were maintained as non-exposed controls. Results showed that <italic>C. microbothrium</italic> successfully established in <italic>Melanoides</italic> sp. and produced cercariae, and the prepatent period recorded was 21 days. Three snails shed cercariae at day 21 postexposure (PE), and rediae and free cercariae were detected in the soft tissues of one snail on dissection at day 44 PE. The same fluke did not establish in <italic>T. granifera</italic>. <italic>Melanoides</italic> sp. started producing offspring at day 7 PE, and <italic>T. granifera</italic> at day 14 PE. In conclusion, our results showed that <italic>Melanoides</italic> sp. used in this study is a suitable intermediate host for <italic>C. microbothrium</italic> under experimental conditions, and given the wide distribution of this snail species, it is important to determine its role in the natural transmission of other <italic>Calicophoron</italic> species that have been reported in South Africa.</p>