Three new species of virgulate xiphidiocercariae infecting the freshwater snails of Kerala
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Three new species of virgulate xiphidiocercariae infecting the freshwater snails of Kerala N. K. Sanil1,2
•
K. P. Janardanan1
Received: 25 April 2020 / Accepted: 8 July 2020 Ó Indian Society for Parasitology 2020
Abstract Three new species of virgulate xiphidiocercariae infecting the freshwater snails of Malabar, Kerala is described. Cercaria sp. XXVI Malabar n. sp. recovered from Bellamya bengalensis collected from Malappuram district of Kerala is characterized by an elongate-oval, spinose body and a highly contractile and spinose tail; dagger-shaped stylet with reinforced walls; coma-shaped virgula organ; muscular pharynx; short, narrow oesophagus; three pairs of penetration glands; bean-shaped excretory bladder and 12 pairs of flame cells. Cercaria sp. XXVII Malabar n. sp. recovered from Thiara tuberculata collected from Wayanad district of Kerala has a round to elongate-oval, spinose body; a highly contractile, spinose tail; dagger-shaped stylet; muscular pharynx; short oesophagus; narrow caeca extending up to ventral sucker; three pairs of penetration glands; bicornuate, thin-walled excretory bladder, and 12 pairs of flame cells. Cercaria sp. XXVII Malabar n. sp. infecting Paracrostoma huegelii also collected from Wayanad district, Kerala is characterized by elongate-oval, spinose body; contractile and spinose tail; dagger-shaped, inwardly curved stylet; virgula organ with elongated lobes; globular pharynx; three pairs of penetration glands; bicornuate, transversely elongate excretory bladder and 18 pairs of flame cells. All the three cercariae developed in sporocysts within the heapatopancreatic tissues of their respective snail hosts. The cercariae were
& N. K. Sanil [email protected] 1
Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Malappuram, Kerala 673635, India
2
Present Address: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, Kerala 682018, India
compared with related species to establish their systematic position. Keywords Virgulate Xiphidiocercaria Sporocyst Bellamya bengalensis Thiara tuberculata Paracrostoma huegelii Malabar Kerala
Introduction Sewell (1922) during his pioneering study on the cercarial fauna of India described 32 species of cercariae infecting 10 species of freshwater snails in Kerala. Subsequent contributions by various authors added more information on cercariae from this region. Bellamya bengalensis is a large, operculate, freshwater snail commonly found in stagnant freshwater bodies, ponds and slow moving streams and enjoys a pan-Indian distribution. Of the 25 species of cercariae reported from B. bengalensis, only one (Cercaria of Mesostephanus indicum Mehra, 1947) has been reported from Kerala (Sheena et al. 2007). Thiara tuberculata (Mueller 1774) also inhabits streams, irrigation canals and stagnant water ponds and is distributed throughout India. Thiara spp. is a preferred host for larval trematodes. So far eighty-three species of cercariae have been reported from this snail host in India, of which 22 are from Kerala. Paracrosto
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