Parasite-mollusks: examples. What are shellfish parasites?

Everyone knows harmless herbivorous mollusks with a beautiful shell. But there are dangerous species of these animals that lead a parasitic lifestyle in the human body. We have to find out who the shellfish parasites are, whose examples we will consider in this article.

What are soft-bodied animals?

An all-embracing type of animals, among which isolates and mollusks - are spineless primordial representatives of marine and freshwater fauna, of course, there are species that have well established on land. In addition to all these lovely creatures, there are those who lead a parasitic way of life, but we'll talk about them after we imagine the lifestyle of ordinary mollusks.

These animals are initially considered bilaterally symmetric, but because of the uneven growth of individual organs, different parts are displaced, and a natural asymmetry of mollusks appears.

Their body consists of three parts - a trunk, a head and small legs. All the major organs of the mollusk are in the trunk, therefore some of the species lose their head eventually.

The nervous system of spineless animals consists of four trunks - two pedal and two visceral.

This is enough to have an idea of who the mollusks are.

What are shellfish? Description

Bivalve mollusks are often represented by filterers. The lifestyle of such animals, as a rule, is immovable, and the name they received because of the way of feeding. Being in the water, they pass through their body fluid and filter it, choosing the most essential for nutrition and survival. Among the filterers there are parasites - mollusks, examples of which are colorfully described in school textbooks on biology. We describe them in a separate chapter.

This species has no legs, because they are replaced by a sole, with which animals make their movement on land, if necessary. There are parasitic mollusks, examples of which indicate the complete absence of any devices for movement. This is due to the fact that they prefer a stationary existence, being satisfied only with food intake and reproduction.

The body of bivalves is symmetrical and hidden behind a bulky shell that is attached to both sides.

Not only people can become victims of parasitic existence, but there are also parasites inside mollusks, and their diagnosis is carried out in special veterinary centers. It often happens that aquarium representatives of soft-bodied animals are somehow affected by parasites, which creates a lot of trouble for the owner of the aquarium.

Parasites-mollusks. Examples and description

Not all molluscs prefer to live carelessly in the water and crawl overland. There are those who are more comfortable in someone else's body. Examples of mollusc parasites:

• Larvae of the toothless are able to cling to the fish and exist on them, like parasites. Most often they lie quietly on the bottom in anticipation of some kind of sacrifice, for example, carp. When the fish swims close enough, the parasite cling to the gills, where they continue to exist. The place where the parasite sticks begins to swell strongly and swiftly, a certain tubercle is formed due to the fact that the epithelial cells multiply. It turns out that the mollusc is fully protected in the sprawl that has developed.
• Shellfish Melanellidae, Stiliferidae, Entoconchidae prefer to settle on the body of echinoderms and multiply on them. But some species just take their food from them and do not do any harm.

Diagnosis of parasites

At the present stage, biologists are actively engaged in the study of parasites that live in the body of mollusks. But not all examples of mollusc parasites can be studied thoroughly. This is due to the fact that some representatives lead at once several ways of life.

Experiments are conducted mainly on such species as M. galloprovincialis and C. gigas. For this data, representatives are grown under artificial conditions and they are populated by parasitic organisms.

Parasitic mollusks, the examples of which we examined above, are fundamentally different from species that themselves become victims of parasites.

In the body of a giant oyster, it is possible to detect such parasites as polychaete worm or polychaetes, sponge Pione vastifica.

Observations show that oysters affected by parasitic organisms grow much more slowly than healthy representatives. Their shells become brittle and break with little pressure.

Such mollusks are rejected and do not use for sale and breeding.

Are parasites dangerous in the human body?

Examples of mollusk parasites show that there is a considerable probability of becoming a victim of some of them. But everything is not as scary as it might seem.

What if there are parasitic mollusks in the body? Examples of some types of treatment show that this pathology is not terrible. With the timely access to a specialist, you can easily get rid of them and continue life without maintaining someone's existence.