Spirorchiid LSR and ITS2 alignments, de Buron et al. 2018

Few life cycles of these blood flukes have been elucidated and all intermediate hosts reported are gastropods (Mollusca), regardless of whether the definitive host is a freshwater or a marine turtle. During a recent survey of blood fluke larvae in polychaetes on the coast of South Carolina USA, spirorchiid-like cercariae were found to infect the polychaetes Amphitrite ornata (Terebellidae) and Enoplobranchus sanguineus (Polycirridae).

Partial sequences of D1-D2 domains of the large ribosomal subunit (LSR) and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) genes allowed the identification of sporocysts and cercariae as belonging to two unidentified Neospirorchis species reported from green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in Florida: Neospirorchis sp. (Neogen 13) in A. ornata and Neospirorchis sp. (Neogen 14) in E. sanguineus.