Identification of Biomphalaria havanensis and Biomphalaria obstructa populations from Cuba using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the ribosomal RNA intergenic spacer

In Cuba, several Biomphalaria species have been reported such as B. orbigny i, B. schrammi, B. helophila, B. havanensis and B. peregrina; only the latt er three are considered as potential hosts of Schistosoma mansoni. The spec ific identification of Biomphalaria species is based on anatomical and morp hological characters of genital organs and shells. The correct identificati on of these snails is complicated by the high variation in these characters , similarity among species and in some cases by the small size of the snail s. In this paper, we reported the classical morphological identification, t he use of PCR and RFLP analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region o f the ribosomal RNA genes for molecular identification of seven snail popul ations from different localities in Cuba. Using morphological and molecular analysis, we showed that among the studied Cuban Biomphalaria populations only B. havanensis and B. obstructa species were found.