Maintenance of the Life Cycle of Trichobilharzia Ocellata Via the Duck Anas Platyrhynchos and the Pond Snail Lymnaea Stagnalis

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Abstract
Experimental studies of schistosomes and schistosome-intermediate host, c.q.-definitive host, interactions require effective methods of keeping the parasite in the laboratory. For studies concentrating on schistosome-intermediate host interactions the use of a combination in which the snail host is easy to handle in experiments presents many advantages. Trichobilharzia ocellata-Lymnaea stagnalis is such a combina- tion : L. stagnalis is one of the largest freshwater snails, it is easy to keep in the laboratory and tolerates handling and operations well. In addi- tion, extensive knowledge exists about this species, e.g. with respect to its internal defence system (e.g. SMINIA & VAN DER KNAAP, 1981) and to its endocrine system (e.g. JoossE & GERAERTS, 1983). For these reasons we introduced the combination T. ocellata-L. stagnalis in our laboratory as a model for studies of interactions between schistosomes and their intermediate hosts.

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