Furcocercous cercariae (Trematoda) from freshwater snails in Central Finland

Abstract

A total of eight species of furcocercous cercariae of four families (Strigeidae, Diplostomidae, Schistosomatidae and Sanguinicolidae), were found in 2005 in Lake Konnevesi in Central Finland in four snail species (Valvata macrostoma, Lymnaea stagnalis, Bathyomphalus contortus and Planorbarius corneus). Australapatemon burti (Miller, 1923), Australapatemon sp., Cotylurus brevis Dubois et Rausch, 1950, Cercaria spinulosa Ginetsinskaya, 1959 and Sanguinicola sp. are new species records for Finland. Ichthyocotylurus variegatus (Creplin, 1825) and Bilharziella polonica (Kowalewski, 1895) were first recorded as cercariae in Finland. The most common cercariae were A. burti (prevalence 13.3%) and Diplostomum pseudospathaceum Niewiadomska, 1984 (10.0%). Our study represents the first host record of Valvata macrostoma for larval stages of Australapatemon sp. and Sanguinicola sp.