Spatial and seasonal trends of a natural population of Biomphalaria occidentalis in northeastern Argentina.

This study aims to analyze the age structure of a population of Biomphalaria occidentalis on a pond of Riachuelo river basin, which is one of the three most important Middle Paraná river affluents in Corrientes province. Samples were drawn from three stations, where spatial and temporal numerical variations of the snail, as well as its relation with different environmental parameters, mainly temperature, rainfall, pH and conductivity, were analyzed. Snail abundance is given in number of individuals/hour. The differences between the three sampling stations, estimated by nonparametric tests, was nonsignificant. A relative scale to the greatest shell diameter was employed to build the age pyramids. Temporal fluctuations of snail abundance correlated negatively with the highest monthly accumulated temperatures (P < 0.05). Although different floristic compositions were observed at the three stations, no significant numerical variations were detected in B. occidentalis spatial distribution. Reproductive activity took place between March-April and November with overlapping cohort system. During summer (December-February) mortality increased along with temperature and reproductive activity was not evident.