Table 3.
Comparative data for the cercariae of Diplostomum phoxini and species of the D. baeri species complex
| Species/Feature | D. phoxini | D. baeri Dubois, 1937 | Diplostomum sp. Lineage 4 of Blasco-Costa et al. (2014) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Present study | Arvy and Buttner (1954) | Rees (1957) | Dönges (1969a) | Niewiadomska and Kiselienė (1994) | Faltýnková et al. (2014) |
| Relation BL-TSL-FL | BL < TSL = FL | BL < TSL > FL | BL < TSL > FL | BL < TSL > FL | BL < TSL < FL | BL < TSL = FL |
| Relation VSW/AOW | VSW > AOW | VSW > AOW | VSW > AOW | VSW > AOW | VSW = AOW | VSW < AOW |
| No. of pre-oral spines in the median group | 10 | – | 5 | – | 7–11 | 8 |
| No. of pre-oral spines in each lateral group | Absent | – | Absent | – | Absent | Absent |
| No. of post-oral rows of spines | 7 | – | 7 | – | 7–9 | 5–6 |
| No. of transverse rows of spines on body | 8 (rows 1–5 complete ventrally, rows 6–8 incomplete ventrally; only row 1 complete dorsally) | – | 8 (rows 1–5 complete ventrally, rows 6–8 incomplete ventrally; only rows 1–2 complete dorsally) | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| No. of spine rows on ventral sucker | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| No. of spines on ventral sucker | 40 per row (c.80 in total) | 28 | 36 per row (c.72 in total) | 48 per row (c.96 in total) | 90–130 | 38 per row (c.120 in total) |
| Penetration gland-cells | Large, do not cover ends of caeca | Small, do not cover ends of caeca | Large, do not cover ends of caeca | – | Large, cover ends of caeca | Large, cover ends of caeca |
| Spines on tail stem | Present | – | – | – | Absent | Present |
| Spines on furcae | Present | – | – | – | Absent | Present |
| Resting position | Tail stem straight | – | Tail stem straight | Tail stem straight | Tail stem straight | Tail stem straight |