A tale of tails: a review of zygocercous cercariae (Digenea), including their first record in Europe after a century and a half.
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Artículo científico |
| Langue: | en |
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International journal for parasitology
2026
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| _version_ | 1868266125078298625 |
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| author | Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš |
| author_facet | Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš |
| collection | PubMed - marine biology |
| contents | A tale of tails: a review of zygocercous cercariae (Digenea), including their first record in Europe after a century and a half. Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš Animals Trematoda Europe Cercaria Snails Trematode Infections Cercariae of the zygocercous morphotype represent a fascinating and unique morphological and ecological adaptation among trematodes (Digenea). They are characterised by an unusual behaviour in which individuals join their tails to form rosette-like clusters consisting of several to hundreds of cercariae that actively move in the water by wagging their tails, resulting in a rolling motion. This aggregation behaviour is a textbook example of prey mimetism, a strategy in which a parasite resembles the prey of a predator (i.e., the next host in the life cycle) in its appearance and movements. In this article, we review all known reports of zygocercous cercariae, whose identity is largely unknown. A total of 16 putative species forming groups of 'rat-king' type cercariae (i.e., zygocercous) have been documented in freshwater and marine snails in 12 countries worldwide. Zygocercous cercariae occur in several unrelated groups of trematodes and have evolved independently several times, apparently as an effective ecological adaptation to increase the success of transmission of the cercariae to the next host, usually a fish. In addition, we report newly discovered zygocercous cercariae found in the non-pulmonate snail Microcolpia daudebartii acicularis (Férussac) (Caenogastropoda: Melanopsidae) from the Danube River in Slovakia. This is the first record of this type of cercaria in Europe in almost 150 years. Molecular data suggest that these cercariae belong to the recently resurrected genus Mesorchis Dietz, 1909 (Echinochasmidae), which includes species with 20 or 22 collar spines. Five taxa previously assigned to the genus Echinochasmus Dietz, 1909 (whose species generally have 24 collar spines) and for which molecular data are available are hereby transferred to Mesorchis as new combinations. |
| format | Artículo científico |
| id | pubmed_41270855 |
| institution | PubMed |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | International journal for parasitology |
| record_format | pubmed |
| spellingShingle | A tale of tails: a review of zygocercous cercariae (Digenea), including their first record in Europe after a century and a half. Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš Animals Trematoda Europe Cercaria Snails Trematode Infections A tale of tails: a review of zygocercous cercariae (Digenea), including their first record in Europe after a century and a half. Soldánová, Miroslava Pantoja, Camila Kundid, Petra Kuchta, Roman Oros, Mikuláš Scholz, Tomáš Animals Trematoda Europe Cercaria Snails Trematode Infections Cercariae of the zygocercous morphotype represent a fascinating and unique morphological and ecological adaptation among trematodes (Digenea). They are characterised by an unusual behaviour in which individuals join their tails to form rosette-like clusters consisting of several to hundreds of cercariae that actively move in the water by wagging their tails, resulting in a rolling motion. This aggregation behaviour is a textbook example of prey mimetism, a strategy in which a parasite resembles the prey of a predator (i.e., the next host in the life cycle) in its appearance and movements. In this article, we review all known reports of zygocercous cercariae, whose identity is largely unknown. A total of 16 putative species forming groups of 'rat-king' type cercariae (i.e., zygocercous) have been documented in freshwater and marine snails in 12 countries worldwide. Zygocercous cercariae occur in several unrelated groups of trematodes and have evolved independently several times, apparently as an effective ecological adaptation to increase the success of transmission of the cercariae to the next host, usually a fish. In addition, we report newly discovered zygocercous cercariae found in the non-pulmonate snail Microcolpia daudebartii acicularis (Férussac) (Caenogastropoda: Melanopsidae) from the Danube River in Slovakia. This is the first record of this type of cercaria in Europe in almost 150 years. Molecular data suggest that these cercariae belong to the recently resurrected genus Mesorchis Dietz, 1909 (Echinochasmidae), which includes species with 20 or 22 collar spines. Five taxa previously assigned to the genus Echinochasmus Dietz, 1909 (whose species generally have 24 collar spines) and for which molecular data are available are hereby transferred to Mesorchis as new combinations. |
| title | A tale of tails: a review of zygocercous cercariae (Digenea), including their first record in Europe after a century and a half. |
| topic | Animals Trematoda Europe Cercaria Snails Trematode Infections |
| url | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41270855/ |