[Investigation on Aspidogastrea infection in freshwater mussels in Anhui Province]

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of trematode Aspidogastrea in freshwater mussels in Anhui Province, China.

Methods: The freshwater mussels living in different water areas within Anhui territory were harvested and dissected from April to May, 2015. Then the flukes were collected from the pericardial cavities of the clams into a petri dish containing small amount of saline. After rinsing, the flukes were transferred into a bottle containing 70% ethanol for following identification by staining of the specimens prepared as previous protocol.

Results: A total of 3 007 calms in 12 species, including Unio douglasiae (603), Acuticosta chinensis (90), Lamprotula caveat (150), Lamprotula leai (250), Lanceolaria grayana (47), Anodonta pacifica (60), Anodonta woodiana (350), Cuneopsis heudei (100), Solenaia oleivora (150), Cristaria plicata (567), Hyriopsis cumingii (550) and Arconaia lanceolata (90) were dissected, in which 1 467 mussels were infected with the trematode Aspidogastrea, with an infection rate of 48.79% (1 467/3 007). Totally, 7 306 flukes belonging to 3 genera under the subclass of Aspidogastrea were isolated. These trematodes were genera of Aspidogaster, Lophotaspis and Cotylaspis. The infection density was from 1 to 128 capita for individual positive clam, with a mean infectiosity of 4.98 (7306/1467) for each mussel.

Conclusions: The freshwater bivalves living in different water areas in Anhui Province are infected with the trematode Aspidogastrea. These flukes were identified as Aspidogaster sp. Lophotaspis sp. and Cotylaspis sp. belonging to subclass Aspidogastridae of family Aspidogastrea.

Keywords: Anhui Province; Aspidogastrea; Freshwater mussel.