Troglotrema acutum (Digenea) from carnivores in the Czech Republic

A collection of 5 282 skulls of 14 carnivore species from the Czech Republic was examined and characteristic changes of the visceral part of cranial skeleton caused by Troglotrema acutum were found in 6 of the studied species: Mustela putorius (prevalence 7.1 %), Martes martes (1.6 %), Martes foina (0.6 %), Meles meles (1.1 %), Lutra lutra (0.9 %) and Vulpes vulpes (0.8 %). The typical host of this trematode species is M putorius; other carnivore species are accidental hosts. Fresh material (225 carnivores of 7 species) was examined for accurate identification of cranial skeleton changes and determination of parasite species. Nine adult trematodes from 3 infected M putorius were obtained. T. acutum has been found on 8.1 % of the territory of the Czech Republic so far. Most often it was detected at localities at altitudes from 201 to 300 m a.s.l. (55.3 %). Its distribution in the Czech Republic is of focal character. It was found that neither spatial nor vertical distributions of T. acutum correspond to the present distribution of the first intermediate hosts determined so far (small prosobranchiate snails of genus Bythinella). A hypothesis has been formulated that the first intermediate hosts of this trematode species may also be other species of prosobranchiate snails, whose distribution is not limited by altitude.