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Relationships of Some Species of Digenea with the Marine Prosobranch Littorina littorea (L.) II. The Effect of Larval Digenea on the Reproductive Biology of L. littorea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

E. M. Robson
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The University, Hull
I. C. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The University, Hull

Extract

1. 5250 specimens of the common periwinkle, Littorina littorea (L.), from Scalby Rocks on the North Yorkshire coast were examined from October 1966 to November 1967 and data obtained on the size, sex and reproductive condition of the periwinkles and their infections with four species of Digenea, namely Cryptocotyle lingua (Creplin, 1825), Renicola roscovita (Stunkard, 1932), Himasthla leptosoma (Creplin, 1829) and Cercaria lebouri Stunkard, 1932.

2. The normal breeding cycle of uninfected L. littorea and the breeding cycles found in periwinkles infected with larval Digenea are described and discussed. Initial infection takes place mainly when periwinkles are spent after their first breeding season and though later damage to the gonad may prevent reproduction, the breeding potential of the periwinkle population at Scalby Rocks is unlikely to be affected seriously. There was no evidence of sex reversal in uninfected or infected L. littorea and the normal sex ratio is 1:1. The phenomenon of gigantism as a result of digenean infection is discussed with respect to L. littorea.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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