The freshwater pulmonate snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, is the most sensitive freshwater organism tested to date for several metals (Co, Cu, Pb, Ni) based on 28 d early life-stage (ELS) tests in which growth was the most sensitive endpoint. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has expressed concern that growth in 28 d ELS tests with mollusks may overpredict toxicity because of t...

Maximum lifetime reproductive success is determined by the optimal partitioning of available resources between growth, maintenance and reproduction. The main question that is addressed here is how this resource allocation occurs in the simultaneously hermaphroditic pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Snails were either reared in groups or in isolation and were fed a standard, restricted amount of le...

the present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of developmental stages of fasciola gigantica infection in lymnaea snails and their populations in sylhet region of bangladesh. a total of 1865 lymnaea snails were collected and examined, of which 56 (3%) were found to having infected with developmental stages of fasciola gigantica. only 4.08% infected of 515 snails were collected fr...

Neurite extension and branching are affected by activity-dependent modulation of intracellular Ca2+, such that an optimal window of [Ca2+] is required for outgrowth. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating this optimal [Ca2+]i remains unclear. Taking advantage of the large growth cone size of cultured primary neurons from pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis combined with dsRNA knockdo...

The binding of oxygen by the haemocyanin of the gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis was studied by equilibrium and kinetic methods. The studies were performed under conditions in which the haemocyanin molecule was in the native state. Over the pH range 6.8-7.6, in the presence of 10mM-CaCl2 the haemocyanin bound O2 cooperatively. Over this pH range the haemocyanin molecule displayed a normal Bohr effec...

The recognition of cryptic parasite species has implications for evolutionary and population-based studies of wildlife and human disease. Echinostome trematodes are a widely distributed, species-rich group of internal parasites that infect a wide array of hosts and are agents of disease in amphibians, mammals, and birds. We utilize genetic markers to understand patterns of morphology, host use,...

A comparative assessment of physiological and cygotenetical parameters in Lymnaea stagnalis populations from Perstok lake and the inlet of Pripyat river with the highest in Belarus and moderate levels of radioactive contamination have been carried out. In 2004 f γ-activity of snails from river and lake amounted to 39.2 and 567.8 Bq kg, respectively, and β-activity – to 123.4 and 7055 Bq kg resp...

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis has been widely used as a model for gaining an understanding of the molecular and behavioral mechanisms underlying learning and memory. At the behavioral level, however, it is still unclear how taste discrimination and CTA interact. We thus examined how CTA to one taste affected the feeding response induced by another appetiti...

Insulin's action in the brain can directly alter cognitive functioning. We have recently shown that molluscan insulin-related peptides are upregulated following a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training procedure. In addition, when mammalian insulin is superfused over the isolated Lymnaea stagnalis central nervous system, it elicits long-term synaptic enhancement at the monosynaptic connectio...

Many animals are equipped with organs that can be everted, a notable example being male copulatory organs. The ability to protrude or evert an organ generally requires protractor and retractor muscles. Male copulatory behaviour of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis (L.) involves eversion (protraction) and retraction of the relatively large penis-carrying organ. For this preputium, protractor and ...