Fecundity of Biomphalaria straminea and B. glabrata in the laboratory: a twelve-month comparative study

• Main Authors: B. Rozemberg, L. Rey, O. S. Pieri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 1992-01-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Biomphalaria straminea; Biomphalaria glabrata; fecundity
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02761992000500042
• ISSN: 0074-0276; 1678-8060

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.