Freshwater snails are commonly found in aquaculture ponds. Snails are problematic because they serve as an intermediate host for a number of trematode parasites. Trematodes or parasitic flatworms, such as Bolbophorus sp., can infect fish. Infected fish can develop encysted parasites in the muscle, have impaired growth, and are susceptible to other diseases that can weaken and kill the fish. The final hosts for these parasites are birds, and trematode eggs are spread to fish ponds when birds defecate.The eggs then hatch and the ciliated larval stage infests snails. The snails, in turn, release free-swimming larvae which infest fish, and the life cycle is complete when a bird eats the second intermediate host fish. In order to control these parasitic worms, the life cycle can be broken by controlling the snail population.
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