The Life History of Spirorchis elegans Stunkard, 1923 (Trematoda: Spirorchiidae) from the Painted Turtle

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Abstract
The life cycle of a turtle blood fluke, Spirorchis elegans Stunkard; 1923, has been completed in the laboratory. Young painted turtles, Chrysemys picta picta (Schneider), and the planorbid snail, Menetus dilatatus buchanensis (Lea), were the natural hosts in DeKalb County, Georgia. Chrysemys p. marginata Agassiz was successfully infected with cercariae in the laboratory, and Helisoma anceps Menke and Menetus d. buchanensis with miracidia. Eggs of the worm, contained in shredded lung tissue, were incubated at room temperature in pond water. Hatching occurred in the predawn hours after 4 nights of incubation (in summer), and after 6 nights (in winter). Miracidia penetrated the exposed surfaces of Menetus and the tentacles of Helisoma. Daughter sporocysts appeared on the liver within 9 days after exposure of the snail to miracidia. Furcocercous, apharyngeate cercariae emerged in the late night and early morning hours in 17 to 20 days after exposure of the snail. Cercariae attacked the eye and cloacal regions and the mucous membranes of the mouth and nostrils of susceptible turtles. After 6 to 10 weeks, blood fluke eggs were passed in the turtle''s feces. Adult flukes were found in the heart, brain, systemic arteries, and liver.

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