Individually PI (A and D), Hoechst (B and E) and FDA (C and F) stained cercariae.

The PI and Hoechst-stained dead cercarial tails (A and B) show the staining of the nucleic acid. Both tails fluoresce strongest at the tail-head junction, as this is where most ruptured cell membranes are found resulting from the tail separation. The FDA-stained whole live cercaria (F) fluoresces strongest in the acetabular glands. Image D, E show a live cercaria stained with PI and Hoechst, respectively. Image C shows an FDA-stained dead cercaria.