Cryptic species and their utilization of indigenous and non-indigenous intermediate hosts in the acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus sensu lato (Polymorphidae).

The bird-infecting acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus has been suggested to comprise different lineages or even cryptic species using different intermediate hosts. To clarify this open question, we investigated Polymorphus cf. minutus cystacanths originating from amphipod intermediate hosts from 27 sites in Germany and France.