Centrocestus formosanus

Centrocestus formosanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Platyhelminthes
Class:	Trematoda
Subclass:	Digenea
Order:	Opisthorchiida
Family:	Heterophyidae
Genus:	Centrocestus
Species:	C. formosanus
Binomial name
Centrocestus formosanus Nishigori, 1924

Centrocestus formosanus is a trematode parasite of Asian origin that has found its way in to North American streams and rivers. It not only affects the fountain darter but many species of commercially important fishes.

The parasite is transmitted via a freshwater snail Red-rimmed melania Melanoides tuberculata^[1] that was introduced in the United States and Mexico in the 1960s. The parasite is believed to have been introduced from shipments of black carp to fish farms in Mexico. The definitive hosts of Centrocestus formosanus appear to be piscivorous birds that migrate along the central flyway from South America to North America.

References

1. ^ (Spanish) Vergara D. & Velásquez L. E. (2009). "LARVAS DE DIGENEA EN Melanoides tuberculata (GASTROPODA: THIARIDAE) EN MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA. Larval stages of digenea from Melanoides tuberculata (Gastropoda: Thiaridae) in Medellín, Colombia". Acta Biológica Colombiana 14(1): 135-142. abstract, PDF.