DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE STRAIN OF SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICUM SPOROCYSTS IN ONCOMELANIA HUPENSIS NOSOPHORA AND O.H. CHIUI

Oncomelania hupensis subspecies serve as intermediate snail hosts for Schistosoma japonicum. It is well known that the Japanese strain of S. japonicum shows different degrees of infectivity to 0. hupensis subspecies (De Witt, 1954; Iwanaga, 1976a, b; Lee and Fan, 1982; Iwanaga et al ., 1984; Lee et al ., 1986). Although the larval development of S. japonicum in 0. hupensis has been described (Harada, 1971; Jourdane and Xia, 1987; Xia and Jourdane, 1991), few detailed observations exist on the relationship between the location of sporocysts and infectivity of snails.