| alaria mesocercariae in the tails of red-sided garter snakes: evidence for parasite-mediated caudectomy. | trematodes of the genus alaria develop into an arrested stage, known as mesocercariae, within their amphibian second intermediate host. the mesocercariae are frequently transmitted to a non-obligate paratenic host before reaching a definitive host where further development and reproduction can occur. snakes are common paratenic hosts for alaria spp. with the mesocercariae often aggregating in the host's tail. in the current study, we used morphological examination and molecular analyses based on ... | 2015 | 26337267 |