Dicrocoelium dendriticum
| Also known as:
|
Dicrocoelium lanceolatum
Small lanceolate fluke
|
Dicrocoelium dendriticum - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Dicrocoelium dendriticum adult from horse faeces - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom
|
Animalia
|
| Phylum
|
Platyhelminthes
|
| Class
|
Trematoda
|
| Order
|
Diagiorchiida
|
| Family
|
Dicrocoeliidae
|
| Genus
|
Dicrocoelium
|
| Species
|
D. dendriticum
|
- This is a small fluke (<1.5cm) found in the bile ducts of ruminants and some other herbivores
- The flukes migrate directly up the common bile duct to reach the bile ducts within the liver
- They are therefore much less pathogenic than Fasciola (which burrow through the liver parenchyma)
- Dicrocoelium is rare in Britain, occurring mainly in the Hebrides, but is common in Europe
- Small dark-brown eggs are shed in faeces
- These contain a miracidium
- If ingested by a land snail, the flukes develop, forming cercariae
- These are excreted by the snails in slime-balls, which are collected and eaten by wood-ants
- Metacercariae form inside the ants
- The final host is infected when ants are eaten at grazing
- The presence of metacercariae in the nerve ganglia of the ants makes them revert to a primitive behaviour pattern, whereby they cling onto herbage overnight instead of retreating to the nest enhancing the likelihood of being eaten by grazing animals
