Pulchrosoma pulchrosoma (Trematoda: Cathaemasiidae) in ringed kingfishers (Megaceryle torquata torquata) from Iquitos, Peru: with inferences on life-cycle features.

In the winter of 2001, four Ringed kingfishers (Megaceryle torquata torquata) were imported from Iquitos, Peru for the zoological garden Faunia in Madrid. Two individuals were necropsied, and infections by the digenean trematode Pulchrosoma pulchrosoma were discovered inside granulomas located in the lung, trachea and coelomic cavity. The life cycle of this trematode species is unknown. In one case the host maintained the parasite infection for at least 5 months, which represents a relatively long prepatency period. Moreover, the body locations in the hosts may suggest that the parasite is able to actively cross the lungs from the coelomic cavity to propagate.