The introduction of Melanoides tuberculata (Mollusca: Thiaridae) to the island of Saint Lucia (West Indies) and its role in the decline of Biomphalaria glabrata, the snail intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni
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Abstract
A malacological survey was carried out in May 1992 in the whole hydrographic system
of Saint Lucia 11 years after the end of a biological control programme to eliminate
Biomphalaria glabrata, the snail intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni. A competitor
snail, Melanoides tuberculata, was introduced to Saint Lucia in 1978 and field experiments
in several habitats were conducted by Prentice between 1978 and 1986. At the present
time M. tuberculata is the most common freshwater snail in Saint Lucia. The results
of the survey, undertaken in sites where B. glabrata occurred in large populations
in the past showed (i) the absence of the snail hosts from seven sites now extensively
colonized by the competitor (ii) the presence of B. glabrata in low or very low densities
in 17 sites together with the competitor and (iii) the presence of the intermediate
hosts in large populations in only two sites where M. tuberculata was absent. These
results confirm the positive results observed by Prentice. The presence of another
planorbid snail, B. straminea, is reported for the first time in Saint Lucia.