Morpho-anatomical characterization of the urogenital schistosmiasis vector Bulinus truncatus (Audouin, 1827) (Heterobranchia : Bulinidae) from Southwestern Europe

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed morpho-anatomical characterization of Bulinus truncatus, an intermediate host of urogenital schistosomiasis in Europe, including shell, reproductive, and respiratory features across multiple populations.

Contribution

It offers new morphological and ecological data on B. truncatus populations in Europe, including the first report of aphallic and euphallic specimens and population age estimation.

Findings

Identification of morphological variations among European populations.

First report of aphallic and euphallic specimens in Europe.

Population age estimation from shell growth studies.

Abstract

Urogenital schistosomiasis has been present naturally in the South of Europe since the beginning of the 20 th century and nowadays its presence is also known, at least imported by Sub-Saharan emigrants and tourists, in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. One of the intermediate hosts of this trematode present in Europe is the bulinid mollusc Bulinus truncatus, non-native species that can be reached to Europe by humans and birds. In order to know this mollusc better, we carried out a morpho-anatomical study, of the shell, the reproductive system, radula, the respiratory organs and pseudobranch of several populations from Italy, France and Spain. Spanish conchological material studied comes from different populations, from material deposited in the "Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales" of Madrid and the "Museu de Ci{\`e}ncies Naturals" of Barcelona, as well as from its own material deposited in the "Museu Valenci{\`a} d'Hist{\`o}ria Natural" of Alginet (Valencia). The shell growth in captivity and the estimation of the population age of B. truncatus from El Ejido (Almer{\'i}a, Spain), has also been studied. Finally, the finding of aphallic and euphallic specimens in the different populations of southern Europe studied is presented and taxonomic and ecological data of the genus Bulinus are shown.