''Centrocestus formosanus'' is a

trematode Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host ...

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n origin that has found its way into North American streams and rivers. It not only affects the

fountain darter The fountain darter (''Etheostoma fonticola'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is found in the h ...

but many species of commercially important fishes. It is also capable of infecting humans The parasite is transmitted via a

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

Red-rimmed melania The red-rimmed melania (''Melanoides tuberculata''), also known as Malayan livebearing snails or Malayan/Malaysian trumpet snails (often abbreviated to MTS) by aquarists, is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, a parthenogenetic, ...

''Melanoides tuberculata'' 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

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. that was introduced in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the 1960s. The parasite is believed to have been introduced from shipments of

black carp The black carp (''Mylopharyngodon piceus'') or Chinese black roach is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish and the sole extant species of the genus ''Mylopharyngodon''. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin ac ...

fish farm upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

s 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

Heterophyidae {{parasitic animal-stub