Life History of Acanthoparyphium paracharadrii sp. n. (Trematoda : Echinostomatidae)

Abstract

Of 351 Cerithium (Potamides) ornata collected at intervals from November 1962 to April 1963, 71 harbored echinostomate cercariae and 127 had metacercariae in their mantles and in muscles on the inner surface of the operculum. Numerous gravid adults identified as Acanthoparyphium paracharadrii sp. n. were obtained from the intestine of two guinea pigs, and one was recovered from a newly hatched duckling, 10 days after feeding snails containing metacercariae. The cercariae, metacercariae, and adults have 23 collar spines arranged in a single row. Only 30 to 32 flame cells were counted. To date, no larval trematode has been reported from Cerithium ornata in the Philippines. Acanthoparyphium paracharadrii is the first species in the genus observed to develop experimentally in the guinea pig and in the duckling. In a study of larval trematodes of snails from estuarine mud flats near fish ponds in Malabon, Rizal and vicinity, Philippines, 351 Cerithium (Potamides) ornata Adams were collected at intervals from November 1962 to April 1963. Seventy-one harbored an echinostomate cercaria and 127 had its metacercarial stage. Two guinea pigs and a newly hatched duckling were fed snails containing metacercariae. On autopsy 10 days later, numerous gravid trematodes identified as Acanthoparyphium paracharadrii sp. n. were recovered from the intestines of the guinea pigs and only one was obtained from the duckling. Deitz (1909) created the genus Acanthoparyphium for the type and only species, Echinostomum phoenicopteri (Liihe, 1898) from the intestine of Phoenicopterus roseus in Tunis, North Africa. Except for Acanthoparyphium pagollae (Cable et al., 1960) from Charadrius wilsonia wilsonia in Puerto Rico, most of the species of Acanthoparyphium have been reported from Asiatic birds, particularly Received for publication 15 October 1963. * Supported in part by grant AI 02575-05 [formerly grant E-2575 (C2), E-2575 (C3)] from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U. S. Public Health Service and a grant-in-aid from the Office of Research Coordination, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. t Guggenheim Fellow, 1963 and on sabbatical leave from the University of the Philippines. 261 Japan, Korea, and Australia. A. ochthodromi Tubangui, 1933 from Ochthodromus mongolus taken at Palo, Leyte, is the only Philippine representative of the genus. Skrjabin (1956) recognized eight species in the genus while Yamaguti (1958) listed ten species and subspecies. Our knowledge of the life history of this group of worms is limited. Yamaguti (1934) described the germinal sacs, cercaria, and metacercaria of Acanthoparyphium sp. from a snail, Batillaria multiformis (Lischke), collected at Takasago, Hy6go Prefecture in Japan but no experimental work was done. Cable (1956) described Cercaria caribbea II from Cerithidea costata in Puerto Rico and suspected it to be the larva of Acanthoparyphium pagollae. Ito (1957) found another larva, Cercaria yamagutii from Cerithidea fluviatilis, Cerithidea largillieri, and Cerithidea cingulata, which he referred questionably to the genus Acanthoparyphium, and again no life cycle study was made. Martin and Adams (1960) reported in a brief abstract the recovery of Acanthoparyphium spinulosum Johnston, 1917, from the intestine of hatchery chicks fed with metacercaria-infected snails, Cerithidea californica from Newport Bay, California, and later (1961) described the life cycle more fully. However, Bearup (1960) had done so, using the gull Larus novae-hollandae as experimental defini-