Parafossarulus manchouricus is a species of freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic prosobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Bithyniidae.
This species is medically important as a host for the liver fluke Clonorchis sinensis in East Asia.
Subspecies Parafossarulus manchouricus japonicus (Pilsbry, 1901)
Description The shell has 5.5 whorls. The width of the shell is 6 mm. The height of the shell is 10 mm.
The haploid chromosome number of Parafossarulus manchouricus is n=17.Amany A. Tohamy & Shaimaa M. Mohamed (2006). "Chromosomal studies on two Egyptian freshwater snails, Cleopatra and Bithynia (Mollusca-Prosobranchiata)". Arab J. Biotech. 9(1): 17-26. PDF .Park G. M. (1994). "Cytotaxonomic studies of freshwater Gastropods in Korea". Malacol. Review 27: 23-41.
Distribution This species occurs in: Russia (Amur River basin), Japan (Honshū, Kyushu and Shikoku), Korea, Taiwan"Parafossarulus manchouricus japonicus (Pilsbry, 1901)" . Bishogai Database, Last modified on 2006/03/23, accessed 1 April 2009 and China.Clonorchiasis . Image Library, accessed 1 April 2009.
The type locality is the Amur River and other rivers in the southern Siberia ("le fleuve Amour et divers cours d'eau de la Sibérie méridionale").
Habitat Parafossarulus manchouricus lives in shallow ponds and in irrigation channels.
Parasites This species is a first intermediate host for Clonorchis sinensis.Clonorchis sinensis . Web Atlas of Medical Pathology, accessed 1 April 2009.
References
Further reading Kim C. H. "Study on some differences between Bithynia misella and Parafossarulus manchouricus". Korean Journal of Parasitology.