Fecundity of Biomphalaria straminea and B. glabrata in the laboratory: a twelve-month comparative study
In the present comparative study a Biomphalaria straminea sample from Picos (Piauí) showed expressive advantages related to fecundity over a B. glabrata sample from Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) such as: higher egg-mass production in 10 out of 12 months of study; higher egg production in all months of study; higher egg per egg-mass ratio in 11 out of 12 months of study; 66% of the egg-masses containing more than 20 eggs while in B. glabrata 70% of the egg-masses showed less than 20 eggs; three times less empty egg capsules than B. glabrata; attainning maximum fecundity in half the time required by B. glabrata. Mortality however was higher and sooner in B. straminea, suggesting higher semelparity in this species than in B. glabrata, a possibility that requires confirmation through long-term studies with other samples of both species. This first finding of a B. straminea sample more fecund than B. glabrata is discussed in relation to other data from the literature, and some recommendations are made on the quantification of fecundity of planorbid snails.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde
1992
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| Online Access: | http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761992000500042 |
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