﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Vol. 
  98 
  Washington: 
  1948 
  No. 
  3222 
  

  

  A 
  POTENTIAL 
  SNAIL 
  HOST 
  OF 
  ORIENTAL 
  SCHISTOSO- 
  

   MIASIS 
  IN 
  NORTH 
  AMERICA 
  (POMATIOPSIS 
  LAPI- 
  

   DARIA) 
  

  

  By 
  R, 
  Tucker 
  Abbott 
  

  

  The 
  recent 
  preliminary 
  experimental 
  work 
  of 
  Horace 
  W. 
  Stunkard 
  

   (1946) 
  has 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  snail 
  Pomatioipsis 
  lapidaria 
  (Say) 
  is 
  

   capable 
  of 
  serving 
  as 
  intermediate 
  host, 
  at 
  least 
  to 
  the 
  sporocyst 
  stage, 
  

   of 
  the 
  Oriental 
  human 
  blood 
  fluke, 
  Schistosoma 
  japonicum 
  Katsurada. 
  

   It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  further 
  experiments, 
  particularly 
  through 
  the 
  infec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  young 
  snails, 
  will 
  prove 
  successful. 
  Malacological 
  studies 
  

   indicate 
  that 
  this 
  North 
  American 
  snail 
  is 
  strikingly 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  

   known 
  Oriental 
  carriers 
  in 
  the 
  genus 
  OncoTnelania; 
  hence 
  we 
  are 
  

   holding 
  it 
  at 
  present 
  under 
  suspicion 
  as 
  a 
  potential 
  carrier. 
  

  

  Whether 
  or 
  not, 
  with 
  the 
  accidental 
  introduction 
  of 
  schistosomiasis 
  

   into 
  this 
  country, 
  this 
  snail 
  would 
  become 
  of 
  medical 
  importance 
  in 
  the 
  

   future, 
  it 
  seems 
  wise 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  to 
  record 
  what 
  we 
  know 
  of 
  its 
  distri- 
  

   bution, 
  habits, 
  and 
  morphology. 
  At 
  present, 
  the 
  danger 
  of 
  an 
  out- 
  

   break 
  is 
  remote. 
  The 
  epidemiological 
  conditions 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  are 
  

   not 
  favorable 
  for 
  the 
  spread 
  of 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  disease, 
  and 
  laboratory 
  in- 
  

   fections 
  of 
  the 
  snail 
  are 
  not 
  necessarily 
  a 
  forecast 
  of 
  its 
  activity 
  in 
  

   the 
  field. 
  

  

  As 
  an 
  aid 
  to 
  public-health 
  workers 
  and 
  parasitologists, 
  we 
  have 
  

   gathered 
  all 
  the 
  known 
  locality 
  records 
  for 
  this 
  species 
  and 
  spotted 
  the 
  

   170 
  stations 
  on 
  a 
  map 
  (fig. 
  10) 
  . 
  A 
  few 
  records 
  that 
  represent 
  excellent 
  

   sources 
  of 
  material 
  are 
  given 
  in 
  detail; 
  the 
  other 
  records 
  are 
  on 
  file 
  

   and 
  available 
  at 
  the 
  Division 
  of 
  MoUusks, 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  

   Museum, 
  Washington 
  25, 
  D. 
  C. 
  

  

  778702—48 
  57 
  

  

  