[New data on Cyathocotyle bushiensis (Trematoda: Cyathocotylidae)]

Abstract

Metacercariae of Cyathocotyle bushiensis Khan, 1962 (Digenea) were found in populations of seven species of gastropod snails collected from lakes and rivers in the south of West Siberia (Russia). This is the first record of C. bushiensis in Russia. Five species of snails, Lymnaea stagnalis, L. palustris, L. tumida, Planorbis planorbis (Pulmonata) and Viviparus viviparus (Prosobranchia) were recorded as new hosts for the metacercariae of C. bushiensis. The infection rate of Bithynia tentaculata and Opisthorchophorus (= Codiella) troscheli (Prosobranchia), the main hosts of C. bushiensis metacercariae, was analyzed in regard to the sex and shell length of molluscs. It was revealed that infection rate and mean intensity of metacercariae increases with the shell lengths. Drawings and descriptions of excysted metacercariae from naturally infected snails and adult worms from experimentally infected domestic ducklings are given.