Everyone knows the 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 mollusk parasites are, examples of which we will consider in this article.
What are soft-bodied animals?
The coelomic type of animals, among which mollusks are distinguished, are the soft-bodied primary representatives of the marine and freshwater fauna, of course, there are species that have taken root well on land. In addition to all these cute creatures, there are those who lead a parasitic lifestyle, but we'll talk about them after we introduce the lifestyle of ordinary mollusks.
These animals are initially considered bilaterally symmetrical, but due to the uneven growth of individual organs, different parts are displaced, and the natural asymmetry of mollusks appears.
Their body consists of three sections - this is the trunk, head and small legs. All the main organs of the mollusk are in the body, because some of the species lose their head over time.
The nervous system of soft-bodied animals consists of four trunks - two pedal and two visceral.
This is enough to have an idea of who the mollusks are.
What are clam-filters? Description
Bivalve mollusks are most often represented by filtrators. The lifestyle of such animals, as a rule, is motionless, and they got the name because of the way of feeding. Being in the water, they pass liquid through their body and filter it, choosing everything that is necessary for nutrition and survival. Among the filtrators there are parasites - mollusks, examples of which are colorfully described in school biology textbooks. We will 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 mollusk parasites, examples of which indicate the complete absence of any mobility aids. This is due to the fact that they prefer a fixed existence, being satisfied only with food intake and reproduction.
The body of the bivalve is symmetrical and hidden behind a voluminous shell, which is attached on both sides.
Not only people can become victims of parasitic existence, but there are parasites inside mollusks, and their diagnosis is carried out in special veterinary centers. Quite often it 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.
Mollusk parasites. Examples and description
Not all mollusks prefer to exist carelessly in the expanses of water and crawl on land. There are those who are more comfortable in someone else's body. Examples of mollusk parasites:
- Toothless larvae - able to cling to fish and exist on them like parasites. Most often, they calmly lie at the bottom in anticipation of some prey, for example, carp. When the fish swims close enough, the mollusk-parasite clings to the gills, where it continues to exist. The place where the parasite has stuck begins to swell strongly and quickly, a certain tubercle forms due to the fact that the epithelial cells multiply. It turns out that the mollusk is completely protected in the overgrowth.
- Shellfish Melanellidae, Stiliferidae, Entoconchidae prefer to settle on the body of echinoderms and breed on them. But some species simply take their food and do no 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 parasitic mollusks can be studied thoroughly. This is due to the fact that some representatives lead several lifestyles at once.
The experiments are conducted mainly on species such as M. galloprovincialis and C. gigas. For this, these representatives are grown in artificial conditions and parasitic organisms are infused with it.
Shellfish parasites, the examples of which we examined above, are radically different from species that themselves become victims of parasites.
In the body of a giant oyster, it is possible to detect parasites such as the polychaete worm or polychaete, the sponge Pione vastifica.
Observations show that oysters affected by parasitic organisms grow much slower than healthy representatives. Their shells become brittle and break with a slight pressure.
Such mollusks are rejected and are not used for sale and breeding.
Are parasites in the human body dangerous?
Examples of parasitic mollusks show that there is a high probability of becoming a victim of some of them. But everything is not as scary as it might seem.
What to do if shellfish parasites are found in the body? Examples of certain types of treatment show that this pathology is not terrible. With timely access to a specialist, you can easily get rid of them and continue life without maintaining someone else's existence.