The distribution and incidence of larval trematodes in the freshwater fauna of the Wentloog level, South Wales

The Wentloog level, in South Wales, is a low-lying coastal plain dissected by a network of drainage channels. The latter contain a rich aquatic invertebrate fauna which harbour a wide range of larval digenetic trematodes. Few of the host species examined were not infected with larval trematodes. Miracidia together with their associated sporocysts, rediae and cercariae were more host specific than metacercariae but many of the miracidia which developed in pulmonate molluscs could do so in more than one genus. Metacercarial host specificity is less rigid, and usually species are only restricted to members of one phylum although several were found which could develop in two or more phyla. Most larval stages showed some host preference when they occurred in several host species and this was attributed to ecological or physiological factors or to mechanical barriers. Seasonal variation of infection rate occurs in all larval stages: infection with developing cercariae showed peaks during June and August, but metacercarial infection rates varied according to the host. In molluscs there may be two peaks of infection with metacercariae (as in the cercarial stages), but for many arthropods infections show a gradual increase through the year. The factors mainly responsible for these seasonal changes are considered to be the life-cycle of the intermediate hosts and the environmental temperature, the latter acting on the rate of development of the trematodes. Rainfall, and patterns of egg production of adult trematodes in the definitive hosts are also important.