The Predation of Schistosoma mansoni by the Oligochaete Annelid Chaetogaster

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Abstract
During the course of studies on the mechanism of penetration by miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni into their intermediate hosts it was found that commensal annelids of the genus Chaetogaster frequently preyed upon the attaching larvae. Wagin (1931) found cercariae in the gut of Chaetogaster and Wesenberg-lund (1934) confirmed Wagin's finding. Wallace (1941) reported that these worms serve as second intermediate hosts for some trematodes and when cercariae of Trigonodistomum mutabile were ingested by Chaetogaster limnaei they penetrated the gut wall and encysted in the body cavity. When the worms with their metacercariae were fed to fishes the adult trematodes were later recovered. Ruiz (1951) working on Schistosoma mansoni noted that the Chaetogaster ingested the cercariae liberated from the snail. Khalil (1961) further noted when observing experimental infection of Lymnaea natalensis with miracidia of Fasciola gigantica that these worms ingested the miracidia, and he found that the majority of these worms had a variable number of miracidia in their gut.

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