Aquatic Parasite Observatory

Fibricola spp. (Dubois, 1932)

• Species Name: Fibricola spp. (Dubois, 1932)
• Synonyms: Theriodiplostomum (Dubois, 1944); Neoparadiplostomum (Bisseru, 1957)
• Taxonomy: Animalia, Platyhelminthes, Trematoda, Strigeidida, Diplostomatidae, Fibricola spp.
• Life Cycle: Several species of Fibricola use freshwater snails as first intermediate hosts (e. g. Hippeutis cantori, Physa sp.). The second intermediate hosts are tadpoles and the definitive host is mammals, often raccoons (Chandler, 1942; Hoffman, 1955; Seo et al., 1988).
• Description:
• Adult F. cratera as described Bray et al., 2002:
  2. Body distinctly bipartite; forebody spatulate; hindbody shorter than forebody, occasionally longer. Pseudosuckers absent. Oral sucker, ventral sucker and pharynx of similar size. Holdfast organ round or oval, one-sixth to one-third of forebody in length. Testes tandem; anterior ovoid or cuneiform, asymmetrical in shape; posterior larger, almost symmetrical, occasionally trilobed. Ovary ovoid or cuneiform, submedian or sublateral, at junction of fore- and hindbody, prestesticular. Ootype opposite anterior testis. Vitellarium in forebody, may extend anteriorly to ventral sucker, occasionally penetrates hindbody reaching copulatory burse. Genital cone absent; copulatory bursa with dorso=subterminal pore. In various mammals. Australia, North American, Asia. Metacercariae of 'diplostomulum' type, in amphibians. Cercariae with two pairs of pre-actabular penetration glands; flame-cell formula 2[(1+1+1)+(1+1+[1])]=12.
• Sources: Bray, R.A., Gibson D.I., and Jones, A. 2002. Keys to the Trematoda, Vol. 1, p. 182.
  Chandler, A.C. 1942. The Morphology and Life Cycle of a New Strigeid, Fibricola texensis, Parasitic in Raccoons. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, Vol. 61, No. 2, p. 156- 167.
  Hoffman, G.L. 1955. Research Notes: Notes on The Life Cycle of Fibricola cratera (Trematoda: Strigeida). The Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 41, No. 3, p. 327.
  Seo, B.S., Lee, S.H., Chai, J.Y., Hong, S.J., and Hong, S.T. 1988. The life cycle and larval development of Fibricola seoulensis (Trematoda: Diplostomatidae). Kisaengchunghak Chapchi, Vol. 26, No.3, p. 179-188.
• APO Parasite Records:
• Metacercaria

  1. Host Species	Host Common Name	Site(s) of Infection
     Acris crepitans	Northern cricket frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Ambystoma tigrinum	Eastern tiger salamander	Muscle, connective tissue
     Anaxyrus americanus	American toad	Muscle, connective tissue
     Anaxyrus boreas	Western toad	Muscle, connective tissue
     Anaxyrus fowleri	Fowler's toad	Muscle, connective tissue
     Anaxyrus terrestris	Southern toad	Muscle, connective tissue
     Hyla chrysoscelis	Cope's gray treefrog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Hyla versicolor	Gray treefrog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Pseudacris crucifer	Spring peeper	Muscle, connective tissue
     Pseudacris maculata	Boreal chorus frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Pseudacris regilla	Pacific chorus frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Pseudacris triseriata	Western chorus frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana aurora	Northern red-legged frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana blairi	Plains leopard frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana catesbeiana	American bullfrog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana clamitans	Green frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana palustris	Pickerel frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana pipiens	Northern leopard frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana septentrionalis	Mink frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana sphenocephala	Southern leopard frog	Muscle, connective tissue
     Rana sylvatica	Wood frog	Muscle, connective tissue

Distribution Map:

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