HOST-INDUCED MORPHOLOGICAL VARIABILITY IN ADULT POSTHODIPLOSTOMUM-MINIMUM (DIGENEA, NEODIPLOSTOMIDAE)

Posthodiplostomum minimum adults were collected from natural hosts at Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico and from experimentally infected hos ts. Intraspecific variation was measured using principal component ana lysis (PCA). Morphological traits such as general body shape, size, an d the specific location of certain distinctive organs and structures s howed great variation among hosts as described by PCA. These results e xtend previous studies on host-induced variation in P. minimum in show ing that some conservative traits such as vitelline follicle distribut ion in fore- and hindbody, could be used for an extensive and complete revision of the genus Posthodiplostomum.