Early morphogenesis of metacercariae of trematodes Paratimonia sp. Prevot and Bartoli, 1967 in gastropods <i>Hydrobia acuta</i> (Draparnaud, 1805) in the Black Sea environment

Abstract

The purpose of the research is studying the morphology of larvae of Trematoda Monorchiidae of the genus Paratimonia and establishing possible causes of their accelerated morphogenesis.Materials and methods. The material for this study was trematode larvae (metacercariae) from 283 specimens of gastropods Hydrobia acuta that we collected in March 2012 at the estuary of the River Chernaya (Sevastopol, the Black Sea, 44°27′49″ N 33°51′37″ E). The gastropods were studied for helminths using the compression method. Some of specimens of the found trematodes were studied alive and others were fixed in 70% ethyl alcohol and then stained with acetocarmine according to the standard method. The morphological features of metacercaria were studied on live larvae.Results and discussion. During helminthological research of gastropods Hydrobia, we recorded metacercariae of the family Monorchiidae. Non-encysted metacercariae were located freely in the host’s body cavity.

Keywords

• trematodes
• monorchiidae
• metacercariae
• gastropods
• hydrobia acuta
• the black sea