The chetotaxy of the cercaria ofOpisthioglyphe locellus Kossack 1910 (Trematoda, Plagiorchiidae)

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Abstract
The distribution of the tegumentary papillae (chetotaxy) was studied for the cercaria ofOpisthioglyphe locellus. The cercariae, which emerge from the freshwater snailPlanorbarius corneus L., were treated according to the method of Ginecinskaja and Dobrovol'skij (1963). The papillae were demonstrated after the nomenclature of Richard (1971). The results were identical for cercariae from naturally infectedPlanorbarius corneus from a pond near Ulm (Germany) and experimentally infected, laboratory-reared snails of the same species. The papillae were distributed symmetrically with few individual variations. The association of the trematode with the subfamily Opisthioglyphinae is corroborated by the chetotaxy of the cercaria. This method also allows the distinction of the cercaria from the most related species. The fact that the excretory system of the cercaria ofOpisthioglyphe locellus shows common characteristics with other cercariae of the Opisthioglyphinae (Bock 1982), just like the chetotaxy, emphasizes the taxonomic importance of both criteria.