Influence of Abiotic Factors and Infection of Fasciola gigantica on Oviposition of Vector Snail Lymnaea acuminata

Abstract

Aims: The aim of the present study is establish a correlation between the abiotic factors and infection rate of Fasciola gigantica and their effect on the reproduction of vector snail Lymnaea acuminata. Place and Duration of Study: Malacology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur in between November 2009 - October 2010. Methodology: Fecundity of infected/uninfected snail Lymnaea acuminata was noted in different months of year 2009-2010.Fecundity was dependent on variant abiotic environmental factors and infection rate of Fasciola gigantica larvae in snail body. In infected snail the highest fecundity was observed in winter and lowest in summer. In order to ascertain that such a relationship between fecundity and abiotic factors is not coincident, the nervous tissue of the snail was assayed for the activity of the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in uninfected and infected snails in each months of the year. It was noted that abiotic factors and infection parameter in snail body influence the influence the fecundity of the snails in each month of year 2009-2010. Results: There was a significant positive rank correlation between total fecundity of uninfected/infected snails and corresponding AChE activity in the nervous tissue of same snails.