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Infectivity and the cercarial tail chamber in Proterometra macrostoma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

G.L. Braham ,
M.W. Riley  and
G.L. Uglem
G.L. Braham
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, USA
M.W. Riley
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, USA
G.L. Uglem*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, USA
*
*Author for correspondence.
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Abstract

The tail chamber's role in the survival and infectivity of Proterometra macrostoma (Digenea: Azygiidae) was investigated. Intact cercariae and cercarial bodies dissected from tails were incubated for 14 h in artificial pond water (APW) and cercarial infectivity was assessed in laboratory infections of the bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. Although most cercariae stopped swimming and settled to the bottom after 14 h, survival and infectivity of bodies from intact cercariae did not decrease significantly during this period. All isolated bodies survived in APW, but they were 54% less infective. By contrast, infectivity of isolated bodies did not decrease significantly in an artificial snail saline. The results indicate that maximum infectivity in P. macrostoma is sustained throughout the swimming phase because of the tail chamber which protects the body from the effects of osmotic stress.

Type
Research Note
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , June 1996 , pp. 169 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

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