PATTERNS OF SEXUAL ROLES ADOPTED BY THE SCHISTOSOME-VECTOR SNAIL BIOMPHALARIA GLABRATA (PLANORBIDAE)

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Relatively little is known about the mating behaviour of hermaphrodite freshwater snails, many of which transmit the Schistosoma trematodes among humans in developing countries. Knowledge of the breeding biology of these snails could help in the design of schistosome control programmes, as well as possibly contributing to our understanding of the evolution of simultaneous hermaphroditism in animaL. Here we describe an experiment investigating the patterns of sexual roles adopted by the Schistosoma mansoni-vectot snail, Btmphalaria glabrata. During observations on groups of freely interacting snails, no individuals copulated significantly more often in the male than in the female role, or vice versa. Only one individual showed a pattern of alternating sexual roles over successive matings that differed significantly from a random sequence of roles. There was no evidence for reciprocal copulation with one particular partner, either between consecutive matings (unless they were temporarily isolated from other snails) or between non-consecutive matings (separated by copulations with other conspccifics). We discuss these results in the context of sex allocation and ESS mating strategy theories.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: