Cyathocotyle bushiensis and Sphaeridiotrema globulus were previously implicated in the annual mortality of wild ducks in southern Quebec. Of 21 snail species collected from nine aquatic communities in southern Quebec and southeastern Ontario, May to October 1989 and 1990, only Bithynia tentaculata was heavily and consistently infected with C. bushiensis metacercariae. Although infection levels varied spatially, a consistent concave seasonal pattern of prevalence and abundance was found which may be due to overwintering metacercariae and the almost simultaneous onset of cercarial transmission and recruitment of new snails in mid-summer. Even though S. globulus metacercariae were found in 18 of 21 snail species, B. tentaculata is believed to contribute most to transmission to ducks. The variety of seasonal patterns and large scale spatial heterogeneity in the prevalence and abundance of S. globulus suggested that cercariae may be from more than one source. Some of the spatial variation in metacercarial levels may be due to small scale processes; extensive spatial heterogeneity at a scale of 10 m was detected in S. globulus cercarial transmission to sentinel snails. This small scale heterogeneity may be due to B. tentaculata having small home ranges as suggested by mark-recapture studies on movement. In aquaria, even though smaller B. tentaculata were more active than larger ones and intraspecific microhabitat preferences were found, preliminary results from ducks (Anas discors) feeding on snail communities in pools suggested that snails are ingested in proportion to their presence. Therefore, the importance of a snail species or size class in the transmission of the two parasites to ducks may depend only on its density and metacercarial abundance. Finally, another mode of transmission is proposed for S. globulus: ducks may become infected by consuming empty snail shells containing viable cysts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41160 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Lepitzki, Dwayne Allen William |
| Contributors | McLaughlin, J. Dan (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Institute of Parasitology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001338371, proquestno: NN87944, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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