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Clinical
Parasitology

Insights about the biology of trematodes within their gastropod hosts

02 June 2023
Clinical
9 mins read
02 June 2023
Volume 28 · Issue 6
Figure 1. Diagram illustrating the complex life cycle of Himasthla spp. It shows how the life cycle involves several sequential larval stages and three hosts. In the first one is where the colonies of soldier (smaller) and reproductive (larger) rediae dwell (Hechinger et al, 2010).
Figure 1. Diagram illustrating the complex life cycle of Himasthla spp. It shows how the life cycle involves several sequential larval stages and three hosts. In the first one is where the colonies of soldier (smaller) and reproductive (larger) rediae dwell (Hechinger et al, 2010).

Abstract

This article discusses the specialised behaviour, polymorphism, and caste formation of trematodes within their gastropod hosts and suggests the clinical implications of improved understanding of these dynamics.

Trematodes (phylum: Platyhelminths), with their colonies, comprise a division of labour among soldiers and pools of reproductive individuals, defined as the specialisation of individuals to perform some tasks because they are unable to perform others (Duarte et al, 2011). When we think about specialised behaviour, polymorphism and caste formation, we immediately think of social insects (Michener, 1969). One of the most extreme cases of specialisation being the formation of a reproductive caste and a non-reproductive caste, which are diametrically opposite not just in behaviour but also morphologically (Oster and Wilson, 1978). In groups of individuals that are separate or mobile, this had only been described in insects (Korb and Heinze, 2008; Queller and Strassmann, 1998), snapping shrimp (Duffy, 1996), sea anemones (Ayre and Grosberg, 1996; Francis, 1976), and mole rats (Jarvis, 1981; O'Riain et al, 2000). However, it has also been described experimentally in the first intermediate host of digenean trematodes (Hechinger et al, 2010; Leung and Poulin, 2011; Miura, 2012).

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trematodes
colonies
castes
gastropod
hosts