Bursotrema tetracotyloides Szidat, 1960

Hosts (prevalence; range): P. centralis (10/35; 1–46) and P. cuvieri (2/32; 3–88).

Site of infection: kidneys.

Stage: metacercaria unencysted.

Type host and type locality: L. latrans (= Leptodactylus ocellatus), Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Comments: Bursotrema tetracotyloides is currently the single species of the genus. This parasite attacks the kidneys of anurans as metacercaria unencysted causing lesion in tissues (Szidat 1960). The adult parasites are found in the intestines of mammals which have to feed on the third intermediate host, generally, a bird or reptile with metacercariae encysted; frogs act as a second intermediate host which are reached by a cercaria from a snail (Szidat 1960; Hamann & González 2009). We found the following features in our metacercariae which correspond to B. tetracotyloides: body size very small (around 450µm) characterized by a saccular forebody with oblique aperture in anterior end; in this way, the body constitutes a pouch holding the suckers and the holdfast organ which is large in the center of the body (see Szidat 1960; Hamann & González 2009). The present study reports the first record for Brazil and P. centralis and P. cuvieri represent new hosts for B. tetracotyloides .