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J. Moll. Stud. (1987), 53, 171-177
© The Malacological Society of London 1987

research-article

GROWTH AND DEMOGRAPHY OF POPULATIONS OF BIOMPHALARIA PFEIFFERI (GASTROPODA, PLANORBIDAE) IN THE LABORATORY

MICHEL LOREAU1 and BAJOPE BALUKU2

1Laboratoire de Zoologie systématique et d' Ecologie animale C.P. 160, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. Roosevelt, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; and 2Centre de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles Lwiro, D.S. Bukavu, Zaire

The growth and demography of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi, an intermediate host of the parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni in Eastern Zaire, were investigated in the laboratory under two conditions of crowding. Both individual and population growth were depressed by crowding. Crowding reduced growth rate and all the variables and parameters related to reproduction (fecundity, instantaneous birth rate, net reproduction rate), but did not affect maximum size, survivorship, instantaneous death rate and life expectancy. The mechanism involved in these effects is likely to be exploitation competition for especially profitable food items such as diatoms.

(Received 10 November 1986;
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