Zombie Snail – Leucochloridium paradoxum
On today’s episode, instead of a Bird Of The Week, learn about an interesting bird parasite with a rather peculiar life cycle. Leucochloridium paradoxum lives as an adult flatworm in the cloaca of a bird (thankfully not found in Australian birds), and passes eggs into the faeces of the bird who deposits them on to vegetation. Land snails (the intermediate host) become infected when they consume the vegetation, ingesting the eggs. The parasite undergoes changes within the snail’s body and eventually occupies the eye stalks of the snail, giving them the appearance of juicy, pulsating caterpillars. The parasite also changes the behaviour of the snail, making it more prone to move out into the open where it is easily seen by insectivorous birds. A bird that consumes an infected snail will then complete the lifecycle of the parasite.