ELS EV1 ER Veterinary Parasitology 55 (1994) 149-153 veterinary parasitology Short communication Explanatum explanatum ( Creplin, 1847 ) Fukui, 1929, in buffaloes in the Ahwaz area, southwest Iran Y. Mazahery*, J. Razmyar, N. Hoghooghi-Rad Department of Food Hygiene and Epidemiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid-Chamran University, P.O. Box 61335-145, Ahwaz, Iran Accepted 9 November 1993 Abstract Explanatum explanatum (Creplin, 1847) Fukui 1929, was found in three indigenous buffaloes in the west Ahwaz area, southwest Iran for the first time. The presence of this amphistome in bile ducts caused remarkable fibrosis of submucosa ad hyperplasia of the endothelial layer, such that villus-like structures and protuberances were formed in large bile ducts of the infected livers. Keywords: Buffalo; Explanatum explanatum; Epidemiology-Trematoda; Pathology-Trematoda 1. Introduction Species of paramphistominae (Trematoda, Paramphistomata) are distributed throughout most of the world (Sey, 1989). In Iran, many species of Paramphis- tominae were found in domestic animals, with the exception of buffaloes (Rafyi et al., 1968; Sey and Eslami, 1982). The present communication reports the ob- servation of Explanatum explanatum in indigenous buffaloes in Iran. 2. Materials and methods The livers of indigenous buffaloes slaughtered at Ahwaz abattoir were macros- copically checked for the presence of amphistomes. The parasitised and damaged livers were taken to the Parasitology Laboratory of the Ahwaz School of Veteri- *Corresponding author. 0304-4017/94/$07.00 © 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSD10304-4017 ( 93 )00625-9