The Intermediate Host and the Cercaria of Gastrodiscoides hominis (Trematoda: Gastrodiscidae). Preliminary Report

The planorbid snail Helicorbis coenosus (Benson) has been found experimentally to serve as the intermediate host of Gastrodiscoides hominis. The cercaria of G. hominis is described. It is characterized by the presence of a pair of well-developed oral pouches, an alimentary tract having an oesophagus with a muscular bulb and two simple intestinal caeca, an excretory system with a cross-connection between the two main trunks and a reproductive system represented by rudimentary cell groups arranged in a manner similar to that found in the adult fluke.