Metacercarial encystment and in vivo cultivation of Cercaria lebouri Stunkard 1932 (Digenea: Notocotylidae) to adults identified as Paramonostomum chabaudi Van Strydonck 1965.

Cercariae found occurring in naturally infected gastropod molluscs, Littorina littorea, were identified as Cercaria lebouri Stunkard 1932. They were induced to form metacercarial cysts on the surface of glass Petri dishes. Each cercaria became attached by its oral sucker and adopted a disc-like shape before discarding its tail. A transparent cyst wall was secreted over and around each organism, inside which developmental changes were observed for up to 4 weeks. Six-week-old metacercariae were fed to 1-day-old chickens which yielded adult worms 12 days later. The worms were measured, photographed and described. Initially, attempts to identify the adult worms using a key and catalogue proved ineffective. However, comparison of the adult flukes grown from C. lebouri with the definitive description of Paramonostomum chabaudi van Strydonck 1965 indicated that the two organisms are synonymous. The larval stages of P. chabaudi had not, until now, been identified.