NEIHPID

Opisthorchis noverca Braun 1902 Back

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Taxonomy

Platyhelminthes »
       TREMATODA »
              Digenea »
                     Opisthorchiidae Braun, 1901 »
                            Opisthorchiinae Looss, 1899 »
                                   Opisthorchis Blanchard, 1895 »
                                           Opisthorchis noverca (Braun 1902)

Description

Body elongated, flattened, 3.70-8.45 mm in length, 2.03-2.71 mm in width, ratio of body width to body length 1:1.78-1:3.0. Oral sucker larger than ventral sucker, 0.27- 0.54 mm in diameter, ratio to body length 1:12.75-1:20.85. Ventral sucker post-bifurcal, 0.15-0.22 mm in diameter; ratio to body length 1:16.40-1:45.14, to diameter of oral sucker 1:1.22-1:3.0. Pharynx 0.18-0.27 mm in length, 0.18-0.27 mm in width, ratio to body length 1:20.95-1:33.90. Oesophagus short, 0.045-0.13 mm in length. Caeca more or less straight reaching up to posterior end of body. Testes rounded or lobate , in posterior third of body; anterior testis 0.36-0 .49 mm in length, 0.40-0.67 mm in width; posterior testis 0.27-0.67 mm in length, 0.49-0.67 mm in width. Ovary irregularly lobed or with three lobes, 0.27-0.36 mm by 0.27-0.40 mm. Uterus strongly coiled. Eggs 0.018-0.028 mm by 0.009-0.013 mm. Vitellaria in lateral fields, with eight follicle groups, extending from level of ovarian region to that of vesicula seminalis. Genital pore median at anterior margin of acetabulum. Excretory vesicle Y-shaped, stem passing between testes.

Remarks

O. noverca, a common parasite in liver and bile ducts of dog, swine and man, has also been recorded from pancreas of pigs in India (Sinha, 1968). Interestingly, during the present study 12 specimens of this fluke were also recorded from the liver of a cow which was heavily infected with Fasciola gigantica. Thus, the present report becomes the first ever record of the occurrence of O. noverca in the herbivorous animals and appears to be a case of incidental parasitism.