| Galactosomum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Class: | Trematoda |
| Order: | Plagiorchiida |
| Family: | Heterophyidae |
| Genus: | Galactosomum Looss, 1899 |
Galactosomum is a genus of flukes in the family Heterophyidae. There are currently 28 recognised species within the genus. They mainly infect aquatic birds, but often infest fish as larvae. [1] Three species are known to use marine mammals as hosts.
The excised spherical metacercaria is 2.7–4.9 mm long. [2] Generally, only one is found per fish. [3]
Some species of Galactosomum cause infected fish to swim closer to the surface and colorfully flash their underbellies. [4] In fish, symptoms can be similar to those of whirling disease caused by the unrelated parasite Myxobolus cerebralis . [3] Gastropods hosting select species suffer from sensory impairment due to infestation. This makes these prey animals more likely to be consumed by aquatic birds, providing a host for the parasite to reach the mature stage of its life cycle. Galactosomum cannot survive in human hosts. [4]
Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes or trematodes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host, where the flukes sexually reproduce, is a vertebrate. Infection by trematodes can cause disease in all five traditional vertebrate classes: mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish.
Digenea is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one oral. Adults commonly live within the digestive tract, but occur throughout the organ systems of all classes of vertebrates. Once thought to be related to the Monogenea, it is now recognised that they are closest to the Aspidogastrea and that the Monogenea are more closely allied with the Cestoda. Around 6,000 species have been described to date.
Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive structures.
Metagonimiasis is a disease caused by an intestinal trematode, most commonly Metagonimus yokagawai, but sometimes by M. takashii or M. miyatai. The metagonimiasis-causing flukes are one of two minute flukes called the heterophyids. Metagonimiasis was described by Katsurasa in 1911–1913 when he first observed eggs of M. yokagawai in feces. M. takahashii was described later first by Suzuki in 1930 and then M. miyatai was described in 1984 by Saito.
Anisakis is a genus of parasitic nematodes that have life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause anisakiasis. People who produce immunoglobulin E in response to this parasite may subsequently have an allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis, after eating fish infected with Anisakis species.
Echinostoma is a genus of trematodes (flukes), which can infect both humans and other animals. These intestinal flukes have a three-host life cycle with snails or other aquatic organisms as intermediate hosts, and a variety of animals, including humans, as their definitive hosts.
Fasciolopsis is a genus of trematodes. They are also known as giant intestinal flukes.
Like humans and other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. Fish defences against disease are specific and non-specific. Non-specific defences include skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the epidermis that traps microorganisms and inhibits their growth. If pathogens breach these defences, fish can develop inflammatory responses that increase the flow of blood to infected areas and deliver white blood cells that attempt to destroy the pathogens.
Bothriocephalus acheilognathi, also known as the Asian tapeworm, is a freshwater fish parasite that originated from China and Eastern Russia. It is a generalized parasite that affects a wide variety of fish hosts, particularly cyprinids, contributing to its overall success.
Rhadinorhynchidae is a family of parasitic worms from the order Echinorhynchida.
Clinostomum marginatum is a species of parasitic fluke. It is commonly called the "yellow grub". It is found in many freshwater fish in North America, and no fish so far is immune to this parasite. It is also found in frogs. Clinostomum marginatum can also be found in the mouth of aquatic birds such as herons and egrets. They are commonly present in the esophagus of fish-eating birds and reptiles. Eggs of these trematodes are shed in the feces of aquatic birds and released into water. Aquatic birds become hosts of this parasite by ingesting infected freshwater fish. The metacercariae are found right beneath the skin or in the muscles of host fish.
Microcotyle is a genus which belongs to the phylum Platyhelminthes and class Monogenea. Species of Microcotyle are ectoparasites that affect their host by attaching themselves as larvae on the gills of the fish and grow into adult stage. This larval stage is called oncomiracidium, and is characterized as free swimming and ciliated.
Diseases and parasites in salmon, trout and other salmon-like fishes of the family Salmonidae are also found in other fish species. The life cycle of many salmonids is anadromous, so such fish are exposed to parasites in fresh water, brackish water and saline water.
Gastrodiscoides is genus of zoonotic trematode under the class Trematoda. It has only one species, Gastrodiscoides hominis. It is a parasite of a variety of vertebrates, including humans. The first definitive specimen was described from a human subject in 1876. It is prevalent in Bangladesh, India, Burma, China, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Volga Delta of Russia, with isolated cases from Africa, such as Nigeria. It is especially notable in the Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh regions of India.
Opecoelidae is a family of trematodes. It is the largest digenean family with over 90 genera and nearly 900 species, almost solely found in marine and freshwater teleost fishes. It was considered by Bray et al. to belong in the superfamily Opecoeloidea Ozaki, 1925 or the Brachycladioidea Odhner, 1905.
Philometra is a genus of nematodes, which are parasites of marine and freshwater fishes. The genus was erected by Oronzio Gabriele Costa in 1845.
Metagonimus yokogawai, or the Yokogawa fluke, is a species of a trematode, or fluke worm, in the family Heterophyidae.
Metorchis conjunctus, common name Canadian liver fluke, is a species of trematode parasite in the family Opisthorchiidae. It can infect mammals that eat raw fish in North America. The first intermediate host is a freshwater snail and the second is a freshwater fish.
Trematodiasis is a group of parasitic infections due different species of flukes, the trematodes. Symptoms can range from mild to severe depending on the species, number and location of trematodes in the infected organism. Symptoms depend on type of trematode present, and include chest and abdominal pain, high temperature, digestion issues, cough and shortness of breath, diarrhoea and change in appetite.
Gastropod-borne parasitic diseases (GPDs) are a group of infectious diseases that require a gastropod species to serve as an intermediate host for a parasitic organism that can infect humans upon ingesting the parasite or coming into contact with contaminated water sources. These diseases can cause a range of symptoms, from mild discomfort to severe, life-threatening conditions, with them being prevalent in many parts of the world, particularly in developing regions. Preventive measures such as proper sanitation and hygiene practices, avoiding contact with infected gastropods and cooking or boiling food properly can help to reduce the risk of these diseases.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)"Galactosomum". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species.
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