Monorchiid and aporocotyld cercariae (Digenea) parasitising the purple clam Amiantis purpurata (Bivalvia: Veneridae) from the Southwestern Atlantic coast

Abstract

Two cercariae, one of them ocellate and with well developed tail (Monorchiidae) and another apharyngeate brevifurcocercous (Aporocotylidae), parasite of Amiantis purpurata (Lamarck, 1818) (Bivalvia, Veneridae) from the Patagonian coast on the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, are described. These reports comprise the second monorchiid intramolluscan infection reported for the Southern Hemisphere and first intramolluscan aporocotylid for the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, this constitutes the first report of aporocotylid intramolluscan stages (parthenita) occupying only the haemocoel of the gills of a marine molluscan host rather than the digestive gland and gonad, the usual site of infection.