Korean J Parasitol.  2008 Jun;46(2):101-104. 10.3347/kjp.2008.46.2.101.

Mactra veneriformis, an Intertidal Clam, as a New Second Intermediate Host for Acanthoparyphium marilae (Digenea: Echinostomatidae)

• Han ET
• Chai JY

• KMID: 1089471
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2008.46.2.101

Abstract

Metacercariae of Acanthoparyphium marilae Yamaguti, 1934 (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) were discovered in an intertidal clam, Mactra veneriformis, in a southwestern coastal area of the Republic of Korea. A total of 128 metacercariae were detected from 10 clams examined. They were round, 320 m in average diameter, with 23 collar spines. They were fed experimentally to chicks, and 10 days later adult flukes were obtained. The adults were morphologically characterized by the head collar with a single row of 23 dorsally uninterrupted spines, without special end group spines, a round ventral sucker, 2 round and tandem testes, and vitellaria extending at lateral fields from the posterior extremity not beyond the middle level of the posterior testis. The most characteristic feature of this species was the limited distribution of vitellaria, which differs from Acanthoparyphium tyosenense Yamaguti, 1939, the metacercariae of which are encysted in the same mollusk species. This is the first report in which the metacercariae of this species were detected, and the intertidal bivalve, M. veneriformis, has been identified as a second intermediate host for A. marilae.

Keyword

Acanthoparyphium marilae; echinostome; metacercaria; chick; intertidal bivalve; clam

MeSH Terms

Animals
Bivalvia/*parasitology
Chickens
Echinostomatidae/anatomy & histology/cytology/*isolation & purification
*Host-Parasite Interactions
Korea
Trematode Infections/parasitology/veterinary