ARGENTOPHILIC STRUCTURES OF MIRACIDIA AND CERCARIAE OF PHILOPHTHALMUS LUCIPETUS (PHILOPHTHALMIDAE: TREMATODA) FROM ISRAEL

Argentophilic structures of Philophthalmus lucipetus miracidia and cercariae from Israel are described. Eighty-four of 87 miracidia examined displayed an epidermal plate arrangement of 6:8:4:2 = 20, similar to other Philophthalmus species. Twenty papilla-like structures are arranged on the terebratorium in 3 groups, along 1 axis. Sixteen body papillae are located at the bases of epidermal plates of row 1. Eyespots are mediodorsal, between rows 1 and 2. Excretory pores are lateral, between rows 2 and 3. Features common to Israeli and Bulgarian isolates, differentiating them from other species, include the presence of 16 body papillae as opposed to 10 in other species, and a maximum of 20 papillae on the terebratorium as opposed to 19 in the others. About 3% of the miracidia displayed different plate arrangements. Among the argentophilic structures of P. lucipetus cercariae, the Israeli and Bulgarian P. lucipetus show a common pattern of 2–4 excretory pores in the tail, but arrangement of cephalic C_I3 and C_I5 papillae in the 2 isolates is insufficiently unequivocal for species determination. The data presented show that miracidial characteristics, rather than those of cercariae, aid in determining the species of philophthalmids. They also support former evidence attesting to the identity of the Bulgarian and Israeli species.