• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 1991

The complete life cycle of Echinostoma hertense has been maintained in the laboratory, using Lymnaea persia snails and Rana nigromaculata tadpoles as the first and second intermediate hosts. ICR mice was used as the definitive host. Within the egg of 5. hotense, the miracidium was fully matured in 13 days of incubation at $29~30^{\circ}C$. The miracidium was $93.8{\times}53.6{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$ in average size, covered with numerous cilia of $7~11{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$ length. The epidermal plates were arranged in 6-8-4-2 formula. The first generation rediae ($1.19{\times}0.27{\;}mm$ in average size) were observed in 14 days after miracidial challenge to the snails, and the second generation rediae ($1.40{\times}0.26{\;}mm$ in average size) in 30 days. The average sixte of the cercaria was $295.5{\times}145.0{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$. Their head crown was poorly developed, and collar spines were not yet observed. After a cercarial challenge to the tadpoles, all of the tadpoles became infected and the average worm recovery rate was 88.5%. The majority of the metacercariae (75.5%) were recovered from the muscle of the tadpole's posterior body and the rest (24.3%) from their gills. The metacercariae from the tadpoles were elliptical, and $167.7{\times}129.9{\;}{\mu\textrm{m}}$ in average size. The recovery rate of adults from the mice was difFerent by the age of the metacercariae grown in the tadpoles. The metacercariae younger than 5 hrs could not infect mice whereas those older than 6 hrs could infect mice. The recovery rate became higher as the metacercaria matured, with the peak recovery rate of 90.0 % at the metacercarial age of 9 days. Thereafter the recovery rate decreased to 55.0% at the age of 50 days. As shown by the above results, the whole life cycle of E. hcrtense has been completed in the laboratory. At least 55~58 days were required to maintain one egg-to-egg cycle of E. hortense.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.145-150
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• 2024

It is uncertain when the head collar and collar spines of Isthmiophora hortensis (Digenea: Echinostomatidae), a zoonotic echinostome species in Far Eastern Asia, develop during its larval stages. In this study, the appearance of the head collar and collar spines was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy in cercariae and metacercariae experimentally obtained from freshwater snails (Lymnaea pervia) and tadpoles (Rana nigromaculata), respectively. The cercariae were shed from the snail on day 30 after exposure to laboratory-hatched miracidia. Metacercariae were obtained from the experimental tadpoles at 3, 6, 12, 15, 20, 24, 26, and 30 h after exposure to the cercariae. The head collar was already visible in the cercarial stage, although its degree of development was weak. However, collar spines did not appear in the cercarial stage and even in the early metacercarial stage less than 24 h postinfection in tadpoles. Collar spines became visible in the metacercariae when they grew older than 24 h. It was concluded that the head collar of I. hortensis developed early in the cercarial stage, but the development of collar spines did not occur until the worms became 24-h-old metacercariae in our experimental setting. Counting the number of collar spines was concluded as an unfeasible diagnostic method for I. hortensis cercariae when they are shed from the snail host.