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The Predation of Schistosoma mansoni by the Oligochaete Annelid Chaetogaster*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2009

N. Wajdi
Affiliation:
From the Parasitology Section, Dept. of Zoology, Imperial College, London

Extract

During the course of studies on the mechanism of penetration by miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni into their intermediate hosts it was found that commensal annelids of the genus Chaetogaster frequently preyed upon the attaching larvae. Wagin (1931) found cercariae in the gut of Chaetogaster and Wesenberg-lund (1934) confirmed Wagin's finding. Wallace (1941) reported that these worms serve as second intermediate hosts for some trematodes and when cercariae of Trigonodistomum mutabile were ingested by Chaetogaster limnaei they penetrated the gut wall and encysted in the body cavity. When the worms with their metacercariae were fed to fishes the adult trematodes were later recovered. Ruiz (1951) working on Schistosoma mansoni noted that the Chaetogaster ingested the cercariae liberated from the snail. Khalil (1961) further noted when observing experimental infection of Lymnaea natalensis with miracidia of Fasciola gigantica that these worms ingested the miracidia, and he found that the majority of these worms had a variable number of miracidia in their gut.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1964

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References

Khalil, L. F., 1961.—“On the capture and destruction of miracidia by Chaeiogaster limnaei (Oligochacta).” J. Helminth., 35, 269274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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