Observations on cercarial chaetotaxy as a means for the identification of European species of Trichobilharzia Skrjabin & Zakharow, 1920 (Digenea: Schistosomatidae).

In order to evaluate the importance of cercarial chaetotaxy in the identification of European avian schistosomatids of the genus Trichobilharzia Skrjabin & Zakharow, 1920, papillary patterns of T. franki Müller & Kimmig, 1994 and T. ocellata (La Valette, 1855) Brumpt, 1931 were examined and compared. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also employed to confirm the number and distribution of the sensory papillae. The chaetotaxy of T. franki and T. ocellata were identical, which suggests a close kinship between the two species. Some sensory papillae stained insufficiently with silver nitrate or were difficult to examine using light microscopy. Thus, the use of SEM in future examinations of Trichobilharzia chaetotaxy will ensure the collection of data that are comparable between studies, even though some argentophilic structures are not visible using SEM.