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Echinobase
ECB-ART-40901
Dis Aquat Organ 2008 Aug 27;812:173-6. doi: 10.3354/dao01949.
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Emerging infectious disease in sea stars: castrating ciliate parasites in Patiria miniata.

Sunday J , Raeburn L , Hart MW .


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Orchitophrya stellarum is a holotrich ciliate that facultatively parasitizes and castrates male asteriid sea stars. We discovered a morphologically similar ciliate in testes of an asterinid sea star, the northeastern Pacific bat star Patiria miniata (Brandt, 1835). This parasite may represent a threat to Canadian populations of this iconic sea star. Confirmation that the parasite is O. stellarum would indicate a considerable host range expansion, and suggest that O. stellarum is a generalist sea star pathogen.

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Genes referenced: LOC100887844