The effects of salinity, pH and temperature on the half-life and longevity of Echinostoma caproni miracidia.

Miracidia of Echinostoma caproni were exposed to solutions varying in salinity, pH, and temperature in 1 ml concavity slides. Half-lives of the miracidial populations were determined and longevity curves constructed to find maximum life spans of the miracidia in the different conditions. Control miracidia in aquarium water at pH 7.2 and 22 degrees C. had a half-life of 3.6 h and a maximum life span of 9 h. Miracidia of E. caproni were not very tolerant of saline solutions from 0.1% to 0.4%, the latter being lethal within an hour. A bimodal effect was found with exposure to aquarium water of varying pH, with a peak at pH 5 in acid solutions and pH 9 in alkaline solutions. Miracidia tolerated pH ranges from 3 to 11 exhibiting half-lives of 2.4 h or greater in these solutions. At lower than ambient temperatures, E. caproni miracidia lived longer, the greatest being a half-life of 5.0 h and a maximum life span of 15 h at 5 degrees C. At warmer temperatures, the half-life was reduced until lethality was reached at 40 degrees C. ANCOVA analysis of log transformed longevity curves supported the observation that in pH trials many miracidia survived initially with a major die-off after 3.3 h. The opposite trend of early die-off and gradual mortality of the survivors was supported in the temperature trials.