Respiration rates in Littorina littorea infected with three species of digenean parasite

The gastropod Littorina littorea shows increased mortality in the summer mo nths when infected with digenean parasites. One possible cause of this mort ality is impaired respiration in infected hosts. Respiration rates of L. li ttorea infected with three species of digenea of varying pathogenicity were measured: Cryptocotyle lingua, Himasthla elongata and Renicola roscovita. No evidence of altered respiration rates in infected snails was found.