Dos nuevas localizaciones para España de Bulinus truncatus (Audouin, 1827) (Gastropoda, Planorbidae), hospedador intermediario de Schistosomiasis urinaria

Abstract

Two new locations inSpain of Bulinus truncatus (Audouin, 1827) (Gastropoda, Planorbidae), intermediate host of urinary Schistosomiasis.— Two new populations of the planorbid snail species Bulinus truncatus were found in Spain in 2014. The first consisted only of shells in the lagoon of Villena (province of Alicante), which had dried up at the beginning of the 19th century. This finding is of important biogeographic interest because it links the presence of this species in northern Catalonia with its detection in southern Andalucia as this species has not been found previously either in Murcia or in the Valencian Community. The second population was found in El Ejido (province of Almeria), and thousands of living specimens were found here. This allowed a complete shell characterisation and molecular assessment by means of sequencing the cox1 gene of the mitochondrial DNA genome, which showed 100% homology with sequences of other populations of the same snail species available in the GenBank. The finding of B. truncatus in Almeria is of additional value given the applied importance of this planorbid species as a vector of urinary Schistosomiasis and hence representing a risk of disease introduction and autochthonous transmission in Spain, as has occurred in other southern European countries in the past and recently.