Table 2.

Phenotypic characteristics facilitating the classification and differentiation of the lymnaeid snails species present in the fascioliasis hyperendemic area in Cajamarca

Characteristics	G. truncatula	L. neotropica	L. schirazensis
Shell:
- maximum length	12.00 mm	10.36 mm	8.06 mm
- whorls	stepped	convex	regularly convex
- columella	folded	slightly curved and unfolded	straight
Living specimens:
- Tentacles	wider and with a wide base	*	elongate, slender and with a narrow base
- Eyes	small	*	big and larger
- Colour	mantle roof shows larger unpigmented whitish spots giving a pale appearance to the shell of living specimens by transparency	*	mantle roof from dark brown to blackish throughout, with unpigmented white-greyish round spots, giving a dark appearance to the shell by transparency
Anatomy:
- Praeputium/penis sheath length ratio	2.50-5.90 mm (mean 3.44 mm)	1.10-3.90 mm (mean 2.12-2.70 mm)	1.20-2.23 mm (mean 1.60 mm)
- Radula	first bilateral teeth tricuspid	first bilateral teeth bicuspid but occasionally tricuspid or rarely quadricuspid	first bilateral teeth mostly bicuspid
Egg clusters:
- Cluster shape	rounded to oval shape even when containing more eggs	rounded to oval when containing few eggs and lengthening with slightly curved trend when including more eggs	kidney- to banana-like, the more curved, elongated and narrow the more numerous are the eggs inside
- Egg number/cluster	usually 2-15	around 4-16	around 6-14
Ecology:
- amphibious/terrestr	++	++	+++ (terrestrial trend)
- anthropophyly	+++	+	++
Transmission Capacity:
- to humans	+++	+	-
- to animals	+++	+++	-

Data from Bargues et al. [42,50], and Khoubbane et al. (unpublished data). Intraspecific variability in lymnaeids of the Galba/Fossaria group, to which the three species found in Cajamarca belong, is known to be very wide and, thus, characteristics noted in this table should be considered only orientiative. * = comparison in living specimens never performed.