Growth of Philophthalmus sp. (Trematoda) in the Eyes of Chicks

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Abstract
The in vivo growth pattern of Philophthalmus sp., an ocular trematode, was determined by median slit or intraocular inoculations of one to ten larvae into 65 chicks. None to three flukes per eye were recovered, relaxed in mentholated alcohol, and measured live at almost daily intervals from 2 to 65 days after exposure. The rate of growth, slow until the 5th day (average length from 0.76 to 1.00 mm at 5 days), became rapid (reaching 2.75 to 3.25 mm) until about the 20th day, and when fertilization occurred, continued at a slower rate (4.00 to 4.50 mm at 55 days). Monometacercarial infections suggest that self-fertilization does not occur. Flukes not fertilized fail to grow beyond the 20-day level. Larvae inoculated into one eye sometimes migrate into the other eye. Developmental stages based on well-defined morphological characteristics were assigned to uniformly fixed, stained, and mounted flukes. The five in vivo stages were as follows: meta-cercarial or undifferentiated stage from 0 to 4 days; gonadal differentiation stage from 4 to 10 days; preovigerous stage from 10 to 13 days; ovigerous stage from 13 to 65 days, and embryonated egg stage from 21 to 55 days. Only fertile worms that contained miracidia with eye spots were included in the fifth stage.

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