The life cycle ofBrachylaima ruminae n. sp. (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae), a parasite of rodents

The life cycle of Brachylaima ruminae n.sp. (Trematoda: Brachylaimidae), a duodenal parasite of rodents on the Mediterranean island of Formentera (Spain) is elucidated. The new species follows a terrestrial triheteroxenous life cycle. Eggs passed in the faeces of the definitive host must be ingested by a specific first intermediate host, the land snail Rumina decollata. Branched cercariogenous sporocysts develop in the digestive gland. Microcercous cercariae come out through the terminal birth pores of the branches. Cercariae shed by the snail are terrestrial, crawling on humid substratum. They contact the second intermediate host, another land snail, principally the species R. decollata an…