Complex life cycles are a hallmark of parasitic trematodes. In several trematode taxa, however, the life cycle is truncated: fewer hosts are used than in a typical three-host cycle, with fewer transmission events. Eliminating one host from the life cycle can be achieved in at least three different ways. Some trematodes show even more extreme forms of life cycle abbreviations, using only a mollu...

Megalodiscus temperatus (Stafford, 1905) is a common paramphistome trematode of North American amphibians with a two host life cycle and has been reported to infect frogs and rarely tadpoles. In this study we document the alternative life cycle strategy of M. temperatus in tadpoles and metamorphosed anurans. We show through field work and experimental infections that M. temperatus can establish...

We describe the epizootiology of spirorchiid trematode infections in Hawaiian green turtles (Chelonia mydas) by quantifying tissue egg burdens in turtles submitted for necropsy and by assessing antibody response to crude adult worm and egg antigens among a variety of age groups. Hapalotrema sp. and Laeredius sp. predominated in turtles infected with spirorchiids. Tissue egg burdens decreased wi...

Viravan et al., 1986). Reinfection can occur after treatment. Upatham et al. (1988) reported an extremely rapid return (Jess than one year) to pre-treatment levels of infection in a mass-treated community that had had an extremely high initial intensity of infection. Furthermore, these authors showed a significant association between preand posttreatment egg counts among individuals, indicating...

Abstract The introduction of Pacific oysters to the sedimentary south-eastern North Sea coast and their establishment on intertidal native blue mussel beds has caused development mixed reefs mussels with extensive tidepools. Tidepools have been intensively studied at rocky shores where they show community structures, which usually differ from that surrounding emerging substrates. coasts, howeve...

R. Toledo and B. Fried (eds.), Biomphalaria Snails and Larval Trematodes, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7028-2_2, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract This chapter describes the methods used by the current authors and numerous other investigators to optimize conditions for successfully growing and maintaining both uninfected and infected Biomphalaria glabrata in the laboratory, with pa...

Despite their ubiquity and importance to intertidal ecosystems, information is currently lacking regarding the genetic diversity of trematode parasites within coastal organisms and the distribution of their genetic variation among intertidal habitats. In this study, we quantiWed the clonal diversity of the coastal marine trematode Maritrema novaezealandensis within Zeacumantus subcarinatus snai...

A histochemical study of the progenetic trematode Alloglossidium renale has demonstrated the absence of any secreted material between the adult worm and the host (freshwater shrimp) antennal gland tubules. Host tissue is affected only by the compression, abrasion, and ingestion by the parasite, and host tubule cells near the worm have the same staining patterns as those distant from the parasit...

Studying resource specialization at the individual level can identify factors constraining the evolution of generalism. We quantified genotypic and phenotypic variability among infective stages of 20 clones of the parasitic trematode Maritrema novaezealandensis and measured their infection success and post-infection fitness (growth, egg output) in several crabs and amphipods. First, different c...

Trematode parasites are distributed worldwide and can severely impact host populations. However, their influence on ecosystem functioning through the alteration of engineering behaviours remains largely unexplored. This study focuses a common parasite system in marine coastal environments, i.e., trematode Himasthla elongata, infecting edible cockle Cerastoderma edule as second intermediate host...