Description and life history of Cardicola alseae sp.n. (Trematoda : Sanguinicolidae)

Graduation date: 1965Cardicola alseae is a blood dwelling trematode found in the\ud fishes Salmo clarki henshawi and Salmo gairdneri gairdneri. Eggs\ud which were ovoid in shape and non-operculate left the adult and passed\ud to the gill capillaries of the secondary lamellae. The miracidium was\ud ovoid, 0.070 mm. long by 0.052 mm. wide, covered with long cilia,\ud and internally had an eyespot composed of 40 to 50 melanin granules.\ud The miracidium was encased in an egg capsule which enlarged prior\ud to eruption and release of the larva. Sporocysts were found in the\ud visceral mass of the snail Oxytrema silicula (Gould). No mother\ud sporocyst generation was identified. Percentage of infection was Iow,\ud with infected snails having sporocysts of equal size, Usually one to\ud three adult cercariae were present in each sporocyst, along with\ud germinal balls in many stages of development. Cercariae were of\ud the lophocercous, furcocercous, brevifurcate, apharyngeate type\ud with furcae possessing claws on the tips. A delicate dorsal keel extended at least three-fourths the length of the body and reached its\ud widest point at the dorsal bend of the body. If a cercaria touched the\ud soft part of a potential host, it would attach, drop its tail, and penetrate\ud within 15 to 20 minutes.\ud The adult fluke was removed from blood vessels of the giIls,\ud liver, mesenteries, and kidneys. It was covered with small spines,\ud possessed a highly saccular testis, subterminal mouth, an H-shaped\ud intestine, and lacked a pharynx. The fluke appeared to possess the\ud characteristics of the genus Cardicola. C. alseae differs from the\ud other two blood flukes found in salmonid fish in the morphology of the\ud cercaria, size of the adult worm, number of rows of marginal spines,\ud forrn of the testis and ovary, and shape of the excretory bladder and\ud intestine