Unlike many trematode species it encysts on hard surfaces and not inside a second intermediate host.

[1] Free-living cercariae are released from the snail hosts to encyst on hard surfaces, generally the shells of bivalves.

Survival and successful encystment can be reduced by the presence of epibionts, such as the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides, on the shell.

[1] Castration of the snail molluscan host can result in a decline in host numbers and, in turn, can lead to more ungrazed algae, with corresponding increases in invertebrate populations and a greater diversity of smaller Littorina snails.

The increased numbers of small prey items makes the affected rocky coasts more attractive to birds such as the purple sandpiper and European rock pipit.