Elucidating factors that influence infection success and the behaviour of gastropod hosts of Echinostoma trivolvis lineage c

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dc.contributor.authorHodinka, Cameron
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeVan Nest, Byron (Biological Sciences)
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeWyeth, Russell (St. Francis Xavier University)
dc.contributor.supervisorDetwiler, Jillian
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-17T22:23:45Z
dc.date.available2025-01-17T22:23:45Z
dc.date.issued2025-01-03
dc.date.submitted2025-01-03T17:01:32Zen_US
dc.date.submitted2025-01-15T22:44:21Zen_US
dc.date.submitted2025-01-17T21:49:58Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineBiological Sciences
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science (M.Sc.)
dc.description.abstractWildlife trematodes are important to study due to their impact on wildlife populations, including the ability to modify the behaviour of their hosts. However, these parasites are challenging to study without a fully elucidated life cycle that can be completed in a laboratory. As such, a model for wildlife trematodes would be a great asset for learning about the ecology and behavioural manipulation found in this group. I chose Echinostoma trivolvis lineage c as a parasite model to study these topics in gastropod hosts. Chapter 1 determined how host species/morphotype, host size and miracidial dose affects infection success of gastropod first intermediate hosts. I confirmed reports from natural infections that Ladislavella elodes is a host along with it’s morphotype Stagnicola reflexa and further determined which size and exposure dose produced the highest infection success. I used this new information to obtain infected hosts for my second chapter of my thesis. Herein, I tested whether light and species influenced the navigational behaviour of potential second intermediates host L. elodes. I determined that snail velocity increased when exposed to a higher light level. Using these higher light conditions, I also found that there was no attraction to infected conspecific hosts by potential second intermediate hosts. Both experiments suggest that abiotic and biotic factors can alter snail navigational behaviour and may even influence whether host behavioural modification is observed. As such, laboratory-based studies of behavioural modification may be over or underestimating the strength and frequency of the behaviours that may be occurring in nature. Examples of naturally occurring behavioural modification may be missed entirely if not tested under the right context in the laboratory.
dc.description.noteFebruary 2025
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/38835
dc.language.isoeng
dc.subjectParasitology
dc.titleElucidating factors that influence infection success and the behaviour of gastropod hosts of Echinostoma trivolvis lineage c
local.subject.manitobayes
project.funder.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13039/100010318
project.funder.nameUniversity of Manitoba
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