Cepaea spp. as a source of Brachylaima mesostoma (Digenea: Brachylaimidae) and Brachylecithum sp. (Digenea: Dicrocoeliidae) larvae in Poland.

ABSTRACT: Parasite diagnostics were carried out on 11 Polish populations of Cepaea spp. In three of them, coming from the roadside ditches of a village (Rytel, northern Poland), very high (up to 60%) prevalence of Brachylaima mesostoma was observed. This study provides the first molecular evidence of the presence of B. mesostoma inside Cepaea spp. in Europe. In a few snails from a population found in a private garden in a small town (Chełmża, northern Poland), larvae of Brachylecithum sp. were present. Cercariae and/or metacercariae of B. mesostoma were observed in both species of Cepaea: C. hortensis and C. nemoralis, whereas larvae of Brachylecithum sp. were found only in C. nemoralis. Both species of parasites inhabited snail hepatopancreas whose structure was significantly damaged by larvae. The

SUBMITTER: Zbikowska E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6941998 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature