Do larvae of trichobilharzia szidati and echinostoma revolutum generate behavioral fever in lymnaea stagnalis individuals?

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether individuals of Lymnaea stagnalis naturally parasitized with Trichobilharzia szidati and Echinostoma revolutum can generate the behavioral fever against larvae of those parasites. Thermal preferences of each snail were examined in an oblong thermal gradient during 48 h observation. Uninfected animals under study chose higher temperatures than those releasing cercariae of parasites. Infected snails kept in constant temperature lived shorter than uninfected ones. At high temperature, they released more cercariae per day than at low temperature. Temperature had a great influence on the longevity of emerged cercariae. The thermal behavior of infected snails is not a symptom of behavioral fever but probably can play a therapeutic role in the host.