About: Electrovermis

Electrovermis zappum is a species of fish blood fluke discovered in the Gulf of Mexico and described in 2019. It has been placed in a new genus, Electrovermis. This parasite infects the lesser electric ray (Narcine bancroftii). Once it successfully invades the host, it migrates to and dwells in the lumen of the heart of the ray. Like other blood flukes, it thrives by feeding off of the blood of its host. The adults are morphologically and physiologically similar to other blood flukes that infect rays such as Orchispirium heterovitellatum. Unlike many other blood flukes that infect molluscs as an intermediate host, E. zappum infects bivalves such as clams. Both the rays and clams densely populate warm, shallow intertidal marine waters, which provide the parasite an opportunistic environment