Origin of name Schistosoma

Fri May 21 09:54:11 CDT 1999

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Dear Jorge,

    The genus Schistosoma is attributed to Weinland, 1858. While Barry
O'Connor could well be correct in attributing the name to the presence of a
distinct gynocophoric canal in the male, it is also possible that schisto =
split and soma = body refers to the fact that the schistosomes are among the
few dioecious (separate male and female) digenes. I don't know and I do not
have easy access to Weinland's original publication to discern his thinking
in erecting the genus.

An interesting question. Hope this helps.

Tom Platt
Saint Mary's College

Jorge SantiagoBlay wrote:

> Hi:
>
> The other day, someone asked me about the origin of the name Schistosoma
> (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda). When I think of a Scistosoma, I have a hard
> time imagining what in the outer appearance of the beast is divided or
> easily cleft. Illumination on this welcomed.
>
> Thanks.

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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
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Dear Jorge,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The genus Schistosoma is attributed to Weinland,
1858. While Barry O'Connor could well be correct in attributing the name
to the presence of a distinct gynocophoric canal in the male, it is also
possible that schisto = split and soma = body refers to the fact that the
schistosomes are among the few dioecious (separate male and female) digenes.
I don't know and I do not have easy access to Weinland's original publication
to discern his thinking in erecting the genus.
An interesting question. Hope this helps.
Tom Platt
 Saint Mary's College
Jorge SantiagoBlay wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hi:
The other day, someone asked me about the origin of the name Schistosoma
 (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda). When I think of a Scistosoma, I have
a hard
 time imagining what in the outer appearance of the beast is divided
or
 easily cleft. Illumination on this welcomed.
Thanks.</blockquote>
</html>

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