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Adults inhabit the biliary tree. Eggs are released and are passed with feces. Under optimal conditions the eggs hatch in 1 - 2 weeks. The miracidium released must enter a suitable snail or it will die in a very short time. Once inside the shell it metamorphoses into various stages. First a sporocyst, rediae, finally a cercariae. The cercariae leave the snail and encyst on various plants or soil near the waters surface. When these metacercariae are ingested by a suitable host they pass through the intestinal wall, migrate to the liver and on to the biliary tree, damaging liver tissue enroute.