NEIHPID

Fasciola gigantica (Cobbold Cobbold) Back

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Taxonomy

Platyhelminthes »
       TREMATODA »
              Digenea »
                     Fasciolidae Railliet, 1895 »
                            Fasciolinae Stiles et Hassall, 1898 »
                                   Fasciola Cobbold, 1758 »
                                           Fasciola gigantica, Cobbold 1858

Synonyms

Fasciola indica Varma, 1953

Host

Bos (indicus), Bubalus (bubalis), Capra (hircus), Ovis (aries), Sus (scrofa domestica)

Habitat

Bile duct

Locality

Tura (Meghalaya), Nongstoin (Meghalaya), Jowai (Meghalaya), Shillong (Meghalaya), Guwahati (Assam), Silchar (Assam), Karimganj (Assam), Moranhat (Assam), Agartala (Tripura), Kohima (Nagaland), Dharmanagar (Tripura), Agartala (Tripura)

Description

Body elongated, large, elliptical, flattened, 34.98-44.97 mm in length, 8.0-12.0 mm in greatest width; ratio of body width to body length 1:3.08-1:5.62; cephalic cone relatively short, 2.93-4.29 mm in length. Oral sucker 0.90-1.26 mm in diameter, ratio to diameter of ventral sucker 1:1.42-1:1.95. Ventral sucker 1.67-1.85 mm in diameter, at distance of 1.85-2.93 mm from oral sucker. Pharynx 0.63-0.90 mm in length, 0.58-0.72 mm in width. Caeca branched externally. Testes extensively branched; cirrus sac thin walled. Ovary branched, in front of testes, to left of median line. Uterus in ascending limb forming rosette-like clusters of coils between ovary and acetabulum. Eggs 0.126-0.158 mm by 0.058-0.090 mm. Vitellaria filling up all available space between caecal ramifications laterally. Genital pore median, midway between intestinal bifurcation and acetabulum.

Remarks

F. gigantica has been reported to be of common occurrence in ruminants and other herbivorous mammals from different parts of India (Mehra, 1980). Besides, this species has also been reported from swine, Sus screstatus. The domestic pigs, Sus scrofa domestica appear to be a new host record for this species.

Helminthological collections record

NEHU/Z - TM/26

Specimen Type

Holotype: W7774/1 in Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

References

Mehra, H. R. (1980). The fauna of India and the adjacent countries. Edited by the Director, Zoological Survey of India. pp 418.