title: The life cycle of Australapatemon magnacetabulum (Digenea: Strigeidae) from Northwestern Argentina.
abstract: The life cycle of Australapatemon magnacetabulum Dubois, 1988 was resolved experimentally. Planorbid snails Biomphalaria tenagophila (d'Orbigny, 1835) collected in a small pond at the confluence of the San Lorenzo and Arias Rivers, near Salta City, Province of Salta, Argentina, were found to be shedding furcocercous cercariae possessing 4 pairs of penetration glands, 1 pair of unpigmented eyespots, 6 pairs of flame cells in the body, and 1 pair in the tail stem. Metacercariae were found encysted in naturally, and experimentally, exposed leeches Helobdella adiastola Ringuelet, 1972, Helobdella triserialis (Blanchard, 1849), Haementeria eichhorniae Ringuelet 1978, and Haementeria sp., and within their sporocysts in naturally infected planorbid intermediate hosts. Sexually mature adults were recovered from domestic chicks and a duck 8-28 days postexposure by metacercariae from leeches. The identification of the species was based upon the characteristic large ventral sucker and a genital cone, crossed by a hermaphroditic duct with internal folds, occupying approximately a 1/4 to 1/5 of the hindbody.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Avenida Bolivia 5150, 4400 Salta, Argentina. ddavies@unsa.edu.ar
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Margarita Ostrowski
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: de Núñez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D001700:Biomphalaria / Q000469:parasitology*; D058487:Cercaria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology; D002980:Climate; D004372:Ducks / Q000469:parasitology; D007865:Leeches / Q000469:parasitology*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D058488:Metacercariae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D061005:Ponds; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*