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  • Sara M. Faiad
    University of Washington, Seattle
  • Maureen A. Williams
    University of Washington, Seattle
  • Maurice Goodman
    Stanford University
  • Susanne Sokolow
    Stanford University
  • Julien D. Olden
    University of Washington
  • Kaitlyn Mitchell
    Stanford University
  • Ranja Andriantsoa
    Réseau International Schistosomiase Environnement Aménagement et Lutte (RISEAL)
  • J.P.G. Jones
  • Luciano Andriamaro
    Réseau International Schistosomiase Environnement Aménagement et Lutte (RISEAL)
  • Pascaline Ravoniarimbinina
    Réseau International Schistosomiase Environnement Aménagement et Lutte (RISEAL)
  • Jeanne Rasamy
    Réseau International Schistosomiase Environnement Aménagement et Lutte (RISEAL)
  • Tsilavina Ravelomanana
    Réseau International Schistosomiase Environnement Aménagement et Lutte (RISEAL)
  • Salohy Ravelotafita
    University of Antananarivo
  • Ranaivosolo Ravo
    University of Antananarivo
  • Peter Rabinowitz
    University of Washington, Seattle
  • Giulio A. De Leo
    Stanford University
  • Chelsea L. Wood
    University of Washington, Seattle

The human burden of environmentally transmitted infectious diseases can depend strongly on ecological factors, including the presence or absence of natural enemies. The marbled crayfish (Procambarus virginalis) is a novel invasive species that can tolerate a wide range of ecological conditions and colonize diverse habitats. Marbled crayfish first appeared in Madagascar in 2005 and quickly spread across the country, overlapping with the distribution of freshwater snails that serve as the intermediate host of schistosomiasis-a parasitic disease of poverty with human prevalence ranging up to 94% in Madagascar. It has been hypothesized that the marbled crayfish may serve as a predator of schistosome-competent snails in areas where native predators cannot and yet no systematic study to date has been conducted to estimate its predation rate on snails. Here, we experimentally assessed marbled crayfish consumption of uninfected and infected schistosome-competent snails (Biomphalaria glabrata and Bulinus truncatus) across a range of temperatures, reflective of the habitat range of the marbled crayfish in Madagascar. We found that the relationship between crayfish consumption and temperature is unimodal with a peak at ~27.5°C. Per-capita consumption increased with body size and was not affected either by snail species or their infectious status. We detected a possible satiation effect, i.e., a small but significant reduction in per-capita consumption rate over the 72-hour duration of the predation experiment. Our results suggest that ecological parameters, such as temperature and crayfish weight, influence rates of consumption and, in turn, the potential impact of the marbled crayfish invasion on snail host populations.

Keywords

  • Animals, Astacoidea, Biomphalaria, Humans, Predatory Behavior, Schistosoma, Schistosomatidae, Temperature
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0290615
Pages (from-to)e0290615
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume18
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Sept 2023

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