Two new species of Pleurogenoides (Luhe, 1901) Travassos, 1921 (Digenea: Pleurogenidae) infecting two species of frogs of the Western Ghats, India.

Two new species of digenetic trematodes of the genus Pleurogenoides infecting the freshwater frogs, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis and Hoplobatrachus tigerinus inhabiting the Western Ghats, India are described and illustrated. Pleurogenoides euphlycti n. sp. and P. wayanadensis n. sp. are separated from their congeners on the basis of differences in the morphology and morphometry. The prevalence of infection of P. euphlycti n. sp. in E. cyanophlyctis is 8.99% and in H. tigerinus 12.5% and the intensity is 6.5 and 7.0 respectively. Prevelance of P. wayanadensis n. sp. in E. cyanophlyctis is 4.49% and in H. tigerinus 6.25% and the intensity is 11.25 and 6 respectively. Since trematode parasites have complex life cycles, with multiple hosts that follow trophic level transfer, the parasite larvae may serve as reliable indicators of species diversity in an ecosystem.