Lafferty K D, Hechinger R F, Lorda J, Soler L
Western Ecological Research Center, United States Geological Survey, c/o Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
J Parasitol. 2005 Jun;91(3):697-9. doi: 10.1645/GE-427R.
Batillaria minima is a common snail in the coastal estuaries of Puerto Rico. This snail is host to a variety of trematodes, the most common being Cercaria caribbea XXXI, a microphallid species that uses crabs as second intermediate hosts. The prevalence of infection was higher (7.1%) near mangroves than on mudflats away from mangroves (1.4%). Similarly, there was a significant positive association between the proportion of a site covered with mangroves and the prevalence of the microphallid. The association between mangroves and higher trematode prevalence is most likely because birds use mangroves as perch sites and this results in local transmission to snails.
微小巴蜗牛是波多黎各沿海河口常见的蜗牛。这种蜗牛是多种吸虫的宿主，最常见的是加勒比尾蚴XXXI，这是一种微茎科物种，以螃蟹作为第二中间宿主。红树林附近的感染率（7.1%）高于远离红树林的泥滩（1.4%）。同样，一个地点红树林覆盖比例与微茎科吸虫的感染率之间存在显著的正相关。红树林与较高的吸虫感染率之间的关联很可能是因为鸟类将红树林用作栖息地点，这导致了吸虫在当地向蜗牛的传播。
