Whole-body enantiomorphy and maternal inheritance of chiral reversal in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis.

Mating behaviour in Lymnaea stagnalis pond snails is a maternally inherited, lateralized trait.

Lateralization of the brain has traditionally been considered a specialization that is confined to the vertebrates, but recent studies have revealed that a range of invertebrates also have a brain that is structurally asymmetric and/or each side performs a different set of functions. Here, we show that the precopulatory mating behaviour of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis is lateralized. We pre...

Chemosensitivity of the osphradium of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

The osphradium of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis was studied to determine the stimuli to which this organ responds. The following stimuli were tested: hypoxia, hypercapnia, a mixture of amino acids, a mixture of citralva and amyl acetate and a mixture of lyral, lilial and ethylvanillin. The mean nerve activity consistently increased with elevated PCO2, whereas hypoxia produced variable effect...

Molecular detection of the infection with Fasciola hepatica in field-collected snails of Galba truncatula and Lymnaea stagnalis from West Azarbaijan, Iran

The liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, is considered as the most common cause of fasciolosis in both domestic livestock and human. This study was carried out to detect the prevalence of the larval stages of F. hepatica in the snails Galba truncatula and Lymnaea stagnalis in West Azarbaijan, Iran. Snail collection was performed through searching 28 freshwater habitats from May to December 2010. Fol...

Short Communication Neuronal Feedback in Egg-laying Behaviour of the Pond Snail Lymnaea Stagnalis

Aspects of body size and mate choice in the simultaneously hermaphroditic pond snail <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lymnaea stagnalis</Emphasis>

Body size can be a good indicator of the quality of a potential mate in terms of fecundity. In many hermaphrodites, egg production is positively correlated with body size. Especially when donating sperm is costly, a preference for larger partners might be expected. Here we test this prediction for the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. As expected, we find a clear effect of body size on egg pr...