Urastoma cyprinae
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| Urastoma cyprinae | |
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| Species: | U. cyprinae |
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| Urastoma cyprinae (Graff, 1882) | |
Urastoma cyprinae is a turbellarian that infects the gills of numerous species. It has been reported as free-living organism in marine mud and on algae. Urastoma cyprinae is reported as an opportunistic mantle inhabitant[1] on the gills of various bivalve species, including the clams Tridacna maxima and Tridacna gigas, and the mussels Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis.[2] They are also found throughout the gill surface of C. virginica and is attracted by mucus that coats the gills of oysters. However, the nature of the host-parasite relationship remains unknown.[2]
Urastoma cyprinae is a ciliated turbellarian measuring between 0.4 and 0.8 mm in length.
Life cycle
They live and feed and grow in the mussels, but their complete life cycle stumped researchers because eggs were never observed in these hosts. Researchers in Spain recently discovered that when U. cyprinae is ready to lay eggs, it leaves the bivalve, secretes a protective cocoon around itself and produces an egg sac. About 24 days later, the young hatch out (shown in the photo), make their way out of the cocoon and swim off to find new mussel hosts. The adults sometimes appear to just die in the cocoons, but sometimes also were observed to escape from it themselves and head off to lay more eggs.[3]