The intermediate host of liver fluke is a snail. When the eggs of liver fluke are passed out in the feces of infected animals, they hatch and release a free-swimming larval form known as miracidium. The miracidium then penetrates the snail's soft tissue and undergoes several developmental stages before being released as free-swimming cercariae. The cercariae, in turn, attach to grass or other vegetation, where they are ingested by grazing animals. The cercariae then move from the intestine to the liver and bile ducts of the animal, where they mature into adult flukes and begin producing eggs, thus completing the life cycle.