Abstract

Abdullahi Bala Alhassan, Abdulsalam Abidemi, Ibrahim Madu Katsallah Gadzama, Ramatu Idris Shaaba, Yunusa Adamu Wada, Rasiq Kelassanthodi

Due to survival of intermediate hosts of parasites causing schistosomiasis and fascioli-asis under changing environmental conditions, this research was conducted to investi-gate the distribution and diversity of freshwater snails between March and June, 2017. Physicochemical parameters were analyzed according to the standard operating proce-dures for the examination of water and wastewater. Snails were sampled using an Ekman grab from different sites in each reservoir, counted and identified using standard iden-tification guide. A total of 108 snails were collected and identified in Kubanni reservoir comprising Biomphalaria sp. (48.15%), Lymnaea sp. (39.81%), and Bulinus sp. (12.04%), whereas in Weir, 141 snails which comprised Biomphalaria sp. (53.19%), Lymnaea sp. (24.11%), and Bulinus sp. (22.70%) were collected. Shannon–Weiner diversity index for Kubanni and Weir were 0.97 and 1.02, respectively. The variation in physicochemical parameters between the reservoirs shows no significant difference (p > 0.05), except for electrical conductivity (p = 0.0015), total dissolved solid (p = 0.0016), biochemical oxygen demand (p = 0.0004), and concentration of phosphate (PO4; p = 0.026). The three snail species obtained were common to the two reservoirs; however, species diversity was higher in Weir than Kubanni reservoir. The presence of these snails in the two reservoirs could pose a serious threat to humans coming in contact with these reservoirs, in their role as intermediate hosts of parasites that cause schistosomiasis and fascioliasis.