Onyekwere A. M. auteur aut IRD De Elias-Escribano A. auteur aut IRD Kincaid-Smith Julien auteur aut IRD Dametto S. auteur aut IRD Allienne J. F. auteur aut IRD Rognon A. auteur aut IRD Bargues M. D. auteur aut IRD Boissier J. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Contrary to the majority of other Trematoda, Schistosoma species are gonochoric. Consequently, in endemic areas where several schistosome species overlap and can co-infect the same definitive host, there may be frequent opportunities for interspecific pairing. Our experimental study provides novel insight on the pairing behavior between Schistosoma bovis and S. mansoni in mixed infections in mice. We used six mate choice experiments to assess mating interactions between the two schistosome species. We show that mating between the two Schistosoma species is not random and that S. mansoni exhibits greater mate recognition compared to S. bovis. We also performed reciprocal crosses (male S. mansoni x female S. bovis) and (female S. mansoni x male S. bovis) that produce active swimming miracidia. These miracidia were genotyped by ITS2 sequencing and proposed for mollusc infection. Molecular analyses show that all the miracidia are parthenogenetically produced (i.e., their harbor the mother ITS2 genotype) and as a consequence can only infect the mollusc of the maternal species. Offspring produced by male S. mansoni x female S. bovis pairing can only infect Bulinus truncatus whereas offspring produced by female S. mansoni x male S. bovis can only infect Biomphalaria glabrata snails. Evolutionary and epidemiological consequences are discussed. specialized Schistosoma bovis Schistosoma mansoni mating interactions F1 progeny compatibility Bulinus truncatus Biomphalaria glabrata 052 080 10 6 1251 [10 p.] 2022 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010085314 10.3390/microorganisms10061251 [F B010085314] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010085314 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2022-09/010085314.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2022-09-02 2025-02-24 fdi:010085314 fre