Mole crabs in the genus Emerita are parasitized throughout North and South America by Profilicollis altmani.

[4][5] Like many other acanthocephalans, recent studies have shown that the presence of cystacanth of Profilicollis antarcticus causes behavioral alterations due to changes in the levels of hemolymph dopamine in its intermediate host, the crab Hemigrapsus crenulatus.

The free living conditions of cystacanths in the hemocoelomic cavity of the intermediate host maybe interpreted as the direct way of altering the dopamine metabolic pathway.

; gulls, Chroicocephalus maculipennis, Leucopheus pipixcan, Larus modestus, and L. dominicanus;[7] lesser scaup, Marilla affnis; sanderling, Calidris alba; dunlin, Calidris alpina; whimbrel, Phaeopus hudsonicus; rhinoceros auklet, Cerorhinca monocerata; and willet, Catoptrophorus semipalmatus.

This species was redescribed in great detail by Amin et al. in 2022 on the basis of specimens from Pacific mole crab Emerita analoga (Hippidae) and Belcher's gull Larus belcheri (Laridae), in Peru.

[2] Infects shore crabs such as Hemigrapsus crenulatus and gulls such as Larus dominicanus in Chile and New Zealand.

Its final hosts are shorebirds such as common goldeneye, Bucephala clangula; Barrow's goldeneye, B. islandica; greater scaup, Aythya marila; eider duck, Somateria mollissima; and long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis.

They then infect birds such as the South Island pied oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus finschi and bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica in New Zealand.