Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The life cycle ofBrachylaima ruminae n. sp. (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae), a parasite of rodents

  • Original Investigations
  • Published:
Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The life cycle ofBrachylaima ruminae n.sp. (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae), a duodenal parasite of rodents on the Mediterranean island of Formentera (Spain) is elucidated. The new species follows a terrestrial triheteroxenous life cycle. Eggs passed in the faeces of the definitive host must be ingested by a specific first intermediate host, the land snailRumina decollata. Branched cercariogenous sporocysts develop in the digestive gland. Microcercous cercariae come out through the terminal birth pores of the branches. Cercariae shed by the snail are terrestrial, crawling on humid substratum. They contact the second intermediate host, another land snail, principally the speciesR. decollata and less frequently slugs and Helicids. Cercariae enter via the excretory pore and kidney duct to their specific final location, the kidney. Unencysted metacercariae develop in the kidney (also, less frequently, in the pedal glands) to the mature, infective stage. Infective metacercariae infest the definitive host when ingested together with the snail.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balozet L (1937a)Brachylaemus suis Mihi 1936, trématode de l'intestin du porc. Rôle pathogene et cycle évolutif. Arch Inst Pasteur Tunis 26:36–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Balozet L (1937b) Cycle évolutif deBrachylaemus suis L.B. 1936. CR Acad Sci [D] (Paris) 204:622–624

    Google Scholar 

  • Baylis H (1927) Notes on three little known trematodes. Ann Mag Nat Hirst 19:426–433

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayssade-Dufour Ch (1979) L'appareil sensoriel des cercaires et la systématique des Trématodes Digénétiques. Mém Mus Nat Hist Nat sér A Zool 113:3–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Combes C, Bayssade-Dufour Ch, Cassone J (1976) Sur l'impregnation et le montage de cercaires pour l'étude chétotaxique. Ann Parasitol Hum Comp 51:399–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollfus RPh (1935) Sur quelquesBrachylaemus de la faune française récoltés principalement à Richelieu (Indre et Loire). Ann Parasitol Hum Comp 13:52–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Dollfus RPh (1968) Les Trématodes de l'Histoire Naturelle des Helminthes de Félix Dujardin (1845). Mém Mus Nat Hist Nat nouv sér, sér A Zool 54:119–196+pl I-XLVII

    Google Scholar 

  • Feliu C, Mas-Coma S, Gállego J (1983) Sobre las helmintofaunas de las especies del géneroRattus Fischer, 1803 (Rodentia: Muridae) en la Península Ibérica. Circ Farm 279:123–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen DN (1972) The life history ofScaphiostomum pancreaticum McIntosh, 1934 (Trematoda: Brachylaemidae). Can J Zool 50:201–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Jourdane J, Triquell A (1973) Digènes parasites d'Apodemus sylvaticus (L.) dans la partie orientale des Pyrénées. Description deMacyella apodemi sp. n. Bull Mus Nat Hist Nat Paris 91:351–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyeux Ch, Foley H (1930) Les helminthes deMeriones shawi shawi Rozet dans le nord de l'Algérie. Bull Soc Zool Fr 55:353–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyeux Ch, Baer JG, Timon-David J (1932a) Le développement du TrématodeBrachylaemus (Brachylaemus) nicolli (Witenberg). CR Soc Biol (Paris) 109:464–466

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyeux Ch, Baer JG, Timon-David J (1932b) Recherches sur le cycle évolutif des Trématodes appartenant au genreBrachylaemus Dujardin (syn.Harmostomum Braun). CR Acad Sci [D] (Paris) 195:972–973

    Google Scholar 

  • Joyeux Ch, Baer JG, Timon-David J (1934) Recherches sur les Trématodes du genreBrachylaemus Dujardin (syn.Harmostomum Braun). Bull Biol France et Belgique 68:385–418 + 14 pl

    Google Scholar 

  • Macchioni G (1968) Segnalazione di nuovi molluschi ospiti intermidi diBrachylaima fuscata (Rudolphi, 1819). Riproduzione sperimentale dell'infestione nel colombo e nella tortora. Atti Soc Ital Sci Vet 22:746–749

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas-Coma S, Esteban JG (1983) Nuevos datos sobre las helmintofaunas parásitas de micromamíferos en las Islas Pitiusas. II. Platelmintos. III. Estado actual de conocimientos. Boll Soc Hist Nat Balears 27:181–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas-Coma S, Feliu C (1977) Contribución al conocimiento de la helmintofauna de micromamíferos ibéricos. IV. Parásitos deApodemus sylvaticus Linnaeus, 1758 (Rodentia: Muridae). Rev Ibér Parasit 37:301–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas-Coma S, Feliu C (1984) Helminthfauna from small mammals (insectivores and rodents) on the Pityusic Islands. In: Kuhbier H, Alcover JA, Guerau d'Arellano Tur C (eds), Biogeography and ecology of the Pityusic Islands, Dr W Junk Publ The Hague, Monographiae Biologicae 52:469–525

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas-Coma S, Montoliu I, Valero MA (1984) Methodologie d'étude morphométrique de la variabilité intraspécifique chez les Digènes de la famille Brachylaimidae Joyeux et Foley, 1930. Bull Soc Neuchâtel Sc Nat 107:185–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Montoliu I, Gracenea M, Mas-Coma S (1985) Sobre la detección de la existencia de varias especies deBrachylaima Dujardin, 1843 (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae) de adultos morfológicamente indiferenciables en la isla de Formentera: trascendencia del hallazgo. In: IV Cong Nac Parasit (Tenerife 9–13 Julio), Resumenes de las Comunicaciones: 151

  • Richard J (1971) La chétotaxie des cercaires. Valeur systématique et phylétique. Mém Mus Nat Hist Nat sér A Zool 67:1–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Timon David J (1954) Kystes àBrachylaemus chezCyclostoma elegans Müller. Développement expérimental du parasite. CR Soc Biol 148:708–710

    Google Scholar 

  • Timon-David J (1959) Recherches sur les kystes àBrachylaemus du cyclostome. Ann Parasitol Hum Comp 34:271–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulmer MJ (1949) Sporocyst generations ofPostharmostomum laruei McIntosh, 1934 (Trematoda: Brachylaemidae). J Parasitol 35:22

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulmer MJ (1951)Postharmostomum helicis (Leidy, 1847) Robinson 1949 (Trematoda), its life history and a revision of the subfamily Brachylaeminae. Parts I and II. Trans Am Microsc Soc 70:189–238 and 319–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Villella JB (1953) The life history ofEctosiphonus rhomboideus Sinitsin, 1931 (Trematoda: Brachylaematidae) from the short-tailed shrewBlarina brevicauda. J Parasitol 39:21

    Google Scholar 

  • Villella JB (1954) The life history ofBrachylaima rhomboideum (Sinitsin, 1931) (Trematoda: Brachylaematidae). Dissertation Abst Int 14:745–746

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguti S (1971) Synopsis of Digenetic Trematodes of Vertebrates. Vol I, Keigaku Publ Co, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguti S (1975) A synoptical review of life histories of Digenetic Trematodes of Vertebrates, Keigaku Publ Co, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Zdarska Z, Soboleva TN (1980) Scanning electron microscopy of the cercaria and metacercaria ofBrachylaimus aequans (Looss, 1899). Folia Parasitol (Praha) 27:127–130

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibañez 13, 46010, Valencia, Spain

    S. Mas-Coma

  2. Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    I. Montoliu

Authors
  1. S. Mas-Coma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. I. Montoliu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mas-Coma, S., Montoliu, I. The life cycle ofBrachylaima ruminae n. sp. (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae), a parasite of rodents. Z. Parasitenkd. 72, 739–753 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00925095

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00925095

Keywords

Search

Navigation