Studies on the life cycle of Pleurogenoides wayanadensis Shinad & Prasadan, 2018 (Digenea: Pleurogenidae) from the Western Ghats, India

The life cycle of Pleurogenoides wayanadensis Shinad & Prasadan, 2018, infecting the frogs Hoplobatrachus tigerinus and Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, is elucidated in this study. All the life cycle stages from egg to egg-producing adults were elucidated under natural conditions and successfully established in the laboratory. The life cycle took about 58 to 65 days for completion. Miracidia were released by teasing the eggs with fine needles. Sporocysts were found in the freshwater snail, Bithynia (Digoniostoma) pulchella, collected from paddy fields at Payode, Western Ghats, Wayanad region, in the months of October and November 2019. Cercariae were of the virgulate xiphidiocercous type. Metacercariae were recovered from the eyes of the damselfly naiads of the species Ischnura sp. and Copera sp., and the thorax and abdomen of the dragonfly naiads, Orthetrum sp. The metacercariae showed progenetic development. The growth and development of the metacercariae in the naiads that were exposed to cercariae, and development of the trematode in frogs that were force-fed with encysted metacercariae, have been studied at regular intervals. The prepatent period is 14–19 days. The present life cycle study of a Pleurogenoides spp. forms the seventh report from the world, fourth report from India and the third from Kerala.