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Parasite Godzilla

Parasites are small but have a big impact. An estuary study reveals that these little annoyances add up to a lot of biomass.

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

A bird parasite here, a snail parasite there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real biomass.

PARASITE PARADISE Kilogram for kilogram, total parasite mass outweighs the top predators in estuaries studied, including Mexico’s Bahia San Quintín estuary. Kevin Lafferty

TESTICULAR TAKEOVER A normal California horn snail (top, shell removed) has orange testes, but developing trematode parasites can replace all that normal orange tissue (bottom).