Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1488376

Metazoan Parasites Associated with Marine Mollusks Inhabiting in China Seas: A Review

Provisionally accepted
Xin Du Xin Du 1Jing Sun Jing Sun 1*Huidong Ju Huidong Ju 2*Zhen Xu Zhen Xu 3Xiaoli Tang Xiaoli Tang 4Xuedan Fang Xuedan Fang 1*MUHAMMAD SALEEM CHANG MUHAMMAD SALEEM CHANG 5,6*
  • 1 Ocean College, Hebei Agricultural University, Qinhuangdao, China, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, China
  • 2 Hebei Key Laboratory of Intractable Pathogens, Shijiazhuang, China, Shijiazhuang, China
  • 3 Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, Hebei Province, China
  • 4 Collage of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
  • 5 Department of Science and Technical Education, University of Sindh Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Pakistan
  • 6 Fisheries Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, Anhui Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Parasites in mollusks are often neglected by humans, while some species were reported to be harmful to economic mollusks and caused production decrease. Metazoan parasites of mollusks studies from China Seas started relatively later than other countries. To promote long-term studies on the distribution and diversity of metazoan parasites of mollusks from China Seas, a comprehensive review has been carried out based on the available literature. The purpose of this study was to perform a critical review about the metazoan parasites associated with mollusks that are useful for the discovery of new metazoans. This publication summarizes information on metazoan parasites of Chinese mollusks from 1932 to 2024. The information is presented and contains 128 species of parasites, distributed among the higher taxa as follows: Turbellaria (2 species), Trematoda (34 species), Cestoda (1 species), Annelida (38 species), Arthropoda (48 species), Porifera (2 species), Cnidaria (1 species), Mollusca (2 species). Many records of parasites not identified to the species level are also included. Collectively, this review provides a synopsis of the known metazoan parasites of mollusks from China Seas, as well as presents the known relationship between metazoan parasites and the mollusks, which will broaden our knowledge on the metazoan parasites of mollusks. It is important as it highlights the lack of metazoan parasite studies done in China Seas and the need for more parasite biodiversity work.

    Keywords: Metazoan parasites, Mollusks, distribution, diversity, China Seas

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Du, Sun, Ju, Xu, Tang, Fang and CHANG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jing Sun, Ocean College, Hebei Agricultural University, Qinhuangdao, China, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, China
    Huidong Ju, Hebei Key Laboratory of Intractable Pathogens, Shijiazhuang, China, Shijiazhuang, China
    Xuedan Fang, Ocean College, Hebei Agricultural University, Qinhuangdao, China, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, China
    MUHAMMAD SALEEM CHANG, Department of Science and Technical Education, University of Sindh Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Pakistan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.