Seasonal occurrence of Dollfustrema vaneyi (Digenea : Bucephalidae) metacercariae in the bullhead catfish Pseudobagrus fulvidraco in a reservoir in China

The seasonal population dynamics of metacercariae of the bucephalid Dollfus trema vaneyi (Tseng, 1930) Echmann, 1934 in the bullhead catfish Pseudobagr us fulvidraco (Richardson) were investigated in Jiangkou reservoir, Jiangxi Province, east China, during the period from April 1990 to August 1991. In total, 523 fish were obtained, and the overall prevalence of the metacerca riae was 89.87 % and mean abundance 136.25 +/- 308.09 (mean +/- SD). A patt ern of seasonal changes in prevalence and mean abundance was observed, with higher levels of metacercariae infection in late spring and summer. An ana lysis of the distribution of D. vaneyi in different organs of P. fulvidraco suggested that the eyes might be a suitable location for the parasite. Fur thermore, the possible role of metacercariae in bullhead catfish was discus sed in relation to the life cycle of this parasite.