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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Production Of Marine Trematode Cercariae: A Potentially Overlooked Path Of Energy Flow In Benthic Systems, David W. Thieltges, Xavier De Montaudouin, Brian L. Fredensborg, K. Thomas Jensen, Janet Koprivnikar, Robert Poulin
Production Of Marine Trematode Cercariae: A Potentially Overlooked Path Of Energy Flow In Benthic Systems, David W. Thieltges, Xavier De Montaudouin, Brian L. Fredensborg, K. Thomas Jensen, Janet Koprivnikar, Robert Poulin
Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Parasites, in particular trematodes, are unseen but ubiquitous components of marine intertidal ecosystems. Although parasites are known to affect population dynamics and food web structure, their potential function as an unrecognized path of energy flow in these ecosystems is yet to be quantified. We use published data on rates at which trematodes produce free-swimming infective larvae (cercariae) that are released from their gastropod intermediate hosts to investigate patterns in cercarial output as a function of different variables, and to calculate the annual production of cercariae in different marine benthic systems. Across 18 trematode species, cercarial output (no. cercariae shed snail–1 …