The Progenetic Trematode Cercaria patialensis Soparkar in Ceylon

Abstract

The progenetic and protandrous larval trematode, Cercaria patialensis, Soparkar, 1924, was found to infect about 4% of the population of fresh-water snails of the sp. Melanoides tuberculata, all the year round, in paddy-fields in Godapola, near Peradeniya. The ovary of this cercaria is situated on the left side just anterior to the left testis, a fact which contradicts Anantaraman''s correction of Soparkar''s original descr. The suggestion that the final host may be a duck is weakened by the fact that ducks are not present in the Ceylonese locality. The evidence seems to suggest that the final host may be a fresh-water fish.