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The chaetotaxy of five species of plagiorchiid cercariae - Leptophallus nigrovenosus, Metaleptophallus gracillimus, Macrodera longicollis, Paralepoderma brumpti and P. progeneticum, is described and compared. A great similarity in the distribution of sensillae in all the species examined, especially in cephalic rings CI-IV, as well as in dorsal and ventral rows, suggests close affinities among these species. The variation in the pattern of chaetotaxy observed in P. brumpti and P. progeneticum (presence of 1-3 sensillae of the CI ring inside the oral cavity and numerous sensillae on the ventral sucker) seems to be connected with obligatory progenesis in the life cycle of these species.