Phytomyxids are a monophyletic group of biotrophs/parasites of a variety of organisms including seagrasses with a wide distribution range that includes the Caribbean. The seagrass Halophila stipulacea, native to the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea, is a known host for phytomyxids in the Mediterranean. However, to date phytomyxid infection has not been reported for H. stipulacea in the Caribbean. Infection in H. stipulacea is characterized by swelling of the leaf petioles due to gall formation, and coloration of these galls varies depending on the stage of maturity. H. stipulacea fragments with an apparent phytomyxid infection as well as uninfected fragments were collected in St Eustatius, north-eastern Caribbean, for comparative biometric analysis. Measurements of leaf length, leaf width, internode and root length were taken. Infected H. stipulacea fragments were significantly smaller than uninfected fragments across all biometrics measured, and exhibited similar gall colorations and swelling of the leaf petioles previously described for H. stipulacea in the Mediterranean. Based on our observations, the apparent infection in H. stipulacea fragments on St. Eustatius is likely caused by a phytomyxid parasite and is the first record of phytomyxid infection of this seagrass species in the Caribbean.

鳞茎类动物是包括海草在内的各种生物的生物营养体/寄生生物的单系群，分布范围广泛，包括加勒比海。原产于印度太平洋和红海的海草嗜盐藻是地中海地区已知的附生植物的寄主。然而，迄今为止phytomyxid感染尚未见报道的H. stipulacea在加勒比地区。硬叶嗜血杆菌的感染的特征在于由于形成虫gall而使叶柄膨胀，这些虫s的颜色根据成熟阶段而变化。H. stipulacea在加勒比海东北部的圣尤斯特歇斯（St Eustatius）收集了明显的带有蚜虫感染的片段以及未感染的片段，以进行比较生物特征分析。测量叶长，叶宽，节间和根长。感染H. stipulacea片段不是跨测量的所有生物测定未感染的片段显著更小，并且显示出类似的胆着色和先前所描述的叶柄的肿胀H. stipulacea在地中海。根据我们的观察，St。Eustatius上的S. stipulacea碎片的明显感染很可能是由寄生蚜虫引起的，并且是加勒比海地区这种海藻物种的寄生真菌感染的第一个记录。