Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 27. (Budapest, 1994)

droppings that had been lying on the ground for several days, they contained numerous free-living protozoans, rotifers and nematodes; however, the eggs and larvae of parasitic nematodes could not be detected in them. Eleven out of the 15 faecal samples contained F magna eggs, all of them in a quantity less than 50 eggs/gram. The mature, 120-160 ^m long, dark yellow eggs found in the faeces resembled the eggs of the common liver fluke (F. hepatica) in shape but were of darker colour than the latter. The opercular suture could be seen on the eggs only exceptionally. The wall of the eggs was thicker than that of F hepatica eggs. A circumscribed thickening of the egg-shell could be seen at both ends. The yolk material of the egg filled the lumen of the egg-shell in the form of rough spherical granules 15-20 um in diameter, making the eggs similar to those of the rumen fluke (Paramphistomum). Two of the samples also contained Paramphistomum eggs. Table 1 Measurements of Fascioloides magna flukes collected from the liver of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) living in the Szigetköz area (in mm) Length Width Distance between suckers* 1 43 18 4 2 47 15 5 3 55 26 5 4 56 26 5 5 59 25 6 6 62 25 6 7 65 28 6 8 68 31 7 9 68 30 7 10 72 33 7 * The oral end of older flukes undergoes relative shortening during growth; therefore, the distance between the cephalic and the abdominal sucker does not increase in direct relation to body length. According to American authors, adult flukes may reach 100 mm in length and 37 mm in width (Malek 1980). The maximum size of European specimens is 70 x 40 mm (Kotrlá and Kotrly 1980). The shape and size of the fluke probably depend also on the host species. DISCUSSION The examinations performed and the observations made so far suggest that F. magna infection of deer living in the Szigetköz area is an infection of not very old standing: it cannot have appeared more than a few years ago. In view of the data available on the spread of this fluke in Europe, the parasite must have been introduced into the Szigetköz region by deer moving across the border between Slovakia and Hungary. Besides the fact that such flukes had not been found in Hungary until that