Contrasting with separate-sexed animals, simultaneous hermaphrodites display unique reproductive strategies as they are male and female at the same time. Simultaneous hermaphrodites that copulate unilaterally, for instance, make a decision to mate as a male or female. Previous studies have demonstrated that sex role preference in hermaphrodites is flexible and is controlled by several, often co...

Lymnaeids in nature are subjected to temperature fluctuations that may have an influence on the shedding of cercariae. Thus, experimental infections of Lymnaea truncatula by Paramphistomum daubneyi were performed to determine whether a sudden fall in temperature--daily dipping of infected snails into spring water at 14-15 degrees C, or at 6-8 degrees C--followed by its increase at 20 degrees C ...

Lymnaea stagnalis, often termed the great pond snail, is characterized in part by its ability to take in oxygen both cutaneously and aerially (via its rudimentary lung). The central nervous system of the Lymnaea is composed of a relatively small number of large, identifiable neurons. In 1990, Syed et al. [1] established that respiratory rhythmogenesis in the Lymnaea is controlled by a 3-neuron ...

Neurotrophic factors (NTFs) support neuronal survival, differentiation, and even synaptic plasticity both during development and throughout the life of an organism. However, their precise roles in central synapse formation remain unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that excitatory synapse formation in Lymnaea stagnalis requires a source of extrinsic NTFs and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) acti...