Bulinus nasutus
Encyclopedia
Bulinus nasutus is a species of tropical freshwater snail
with a sinistral shell, an aquatic
gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae
, the ramshorn snails and their allies.
Type locality is Bagamoyo
, now in Tanzania.
The diploid chromosome number is 2n = 36.
High concentration of chloride
(468-2220 ppm Cl) have been found in pools inhabited by Bulinus nasutus in Tanzania.
Bulinus nasutus can aestivate in the dry mud for about 5-8 months. Respiration of Bulinus nasutus during aestivation is probably aerobic. They aestivate on margins of pools, and thus stop aestivation only in optimal conditions, when the pool is full of water.
Webbe (1962, 1965) described population dynamics
of Bulinus nasutus in Tanzania.
Mature snails lay eggs during the whole life span,primarily immediately after the main rainfall. Snails 8 weeks old, whose shell is about 8 mm in height, are mature and can lay eggs. However they require more than 12 months of life and 1-2 aestivation periods in order to reach their full size.
This species is an intermediate host
for:
Freshwater snail
A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....
with a sinistral shell, an aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae
Planorbidae
Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks....
, the ramshorn snails and their allies.
Distribution
The distribution of Bulinus nasutus includes three countries in East Africa:- Kenya
- Tanzania including ZanzibarZanzibarZanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
and Pemba Island - Uganda
Type locality is Bagamoyo
Bagamoyo
The town of Bagamoyo, Tanzania, was founded at the end of the 18th century. It was the original capital of German East Africa and was one of the most important trading ports along the East African coast...
, now in Tanzania.
Description
The width of the shell is 12 mm. The height of the shell is 25 mm.The diploid chromosome number is 2n = 36.
Ecology
Bulinus nasutus lives in temporary pools, ditches and burrow-pits.High concentration of chloride
Chloride
The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine, a halogen, picks up one electron to form an anion Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can also be called chlorides. The chloride ion, and its salts such as sodium chloride, are very soluble in water...
(468-2220 ppm Cl) have been found in pools inhabited by Bulinus nasutus in Tanzania.
Bulinus nasutus can aestivate in the dry mud for about 5-8 months. Respiration of Bulinus nasutus during aestivation is probably aerobic. They aestivate on margins of pools, and thus stop aestivation only in optimal conditions, when the pool is full of water.
Webbe (1962, 1965) described population dynamics
Population dynamics
Population dynamics is the branch of life sciences that studies short-term and long-term changes in the size and age composition of populations, and the biological and environmental processes influencing those changes...
of Bulinus nasutus in Tanzania.
Mature snails lay eggs during the whole life span,primarily immediately after the main rainfall. Snails 8 weeks old, whose shell is about 8 mm in height, are mature and can lay eggs. However they require more than 12 months of life and 1-2 aestivation periods in order to reach their full size.
This species is an intermediate host
Intermediate host
A secondary host or intermediate host is a host that harbors the parasite only for a short transition period, during which some developmental stage is completed. For trypanosomes, the cause of sleeping sickness, humans are the primary host, while the tsetse fly is the secondary host...
for:
- Schistosoma bovis
- Schistosoma haematobiumSchistosoma haematobiumSchistosoma haematobium is an important digenetic trematode, and is found in the Middle East, India, Portugal and Africa. It is a major agent of schistosomiasis; more specifically, it is associated with urinary schistosomiasis....
- it is the main intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium in northwestern Tanzania - Echinostome spp.
External links
- Coles G. C. (1969). "Observations on weight loss and oxygen uptake of aestivating Bulinus nasutus, an intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium". Annals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology is a peer reviewed medical journal published by Maney Publishing. It publishes reviews, historical perspectives, original articles, book reviews, and other features covering tropical disease, including microbiology, epidemiology, molecular biology,...
63: 393-398. - Harris R. A., Preston T. M. & Southgate V. R. (1993). "Purification of an agglutinin from the haemolymph of the snails Bulinus nasutus and demonstration of related proteins in other Bulinus spp." Parasitology 106: 127-136.
- Matovu D. S. & Nditi H. P. (1978). "Laboratory experiments on the effect of aestivation on oviposition in Bulinus (Physopsis) nasutus". Proceedings of the International Congress on Schistosomiasis, Cairo, Egypt, 1975: 515-519. Cairo: Ministry of Health.
- McClelland W. F. (1965). "Development of S. haematobium in Bulinus (P.) nasutus. Reports of the East African Institute for Medical Research 1963–64: 15.
- Pringle G., Otieno L. H. & Chimtawi M. B. (1971). "Notes on the morphology, susceptibility to S. haematobium and genetic relationships of Bulinus (P.) globosus and B. (P.) nasutus from north-eastern Tanzania". Annals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology is a peer reviewed medical journal published by Maney Publishing. It publishes reviews, historical perspectives, original articles, book reviews, and other features covering tropical disease, including microbiology, epidemiology, molecular biology,...
65: 211-219. - Stothard J. R. & Rollinson D. (1997). "Partial DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene can differentiate the intermediate snail hosts Bulinus globosus and B. nasutus (Gastropoda: Planorbidae)". Journal of Natural HistoryJournal of Natural HistoryThe Journal of Natural History is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name Annals and Magazine of Natural History and obtained its current title in 1967...
31(5): 727-737. doi:10.1080/00222939700770361. - Sturrock B. M. (1967). "The effect of infection with Schistosoma haematobium on the growth and reproduction rates of Bulinus (P.) nasutus productus. Annals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology is a peer reviewed medical journal published by Maney Publishing. It publishes reviews, historical perspectives, original articles, book reviews, and other features covering tropical disease, including microbiology, epidemiology, molecular biology,...
61: 321-325. - Sturrock B. M. (1968). "Resistance of B. (P.) nasutus productus to infection by S. haematobium". Annals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and ParasitologyAnnals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology is a peer reviewed medical journal published by Maney Publishing. It publishes reviews, historical perspectives, original articles, book reviews, and other features covering tropical disease, including microbiology, epidemiology, molecular biology,...
62: 393-397.