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.
Fasciola hepatica, also known as the common liver fluke or sheep liver fluke, is a parasitic trematode of the class Trematoda, phylum Platyhelminthes. It infects the livers of various mammals, including humans, and is transmitted by sheep and cattle to humans all over the world. The disease caused by the fluke is called fasciolosis or fascioliasis, which is a type of helminthiasis and has been classified as a neglected tropical disease. Fasciolosis is currently classified as a plant/food-borne trematode infection, often acquired through eating the parasite's metacercariae encysted on plants. F. hepatica, which is distributed worldwide, has been known as an important parasite of sheep and cattle for decades and causes significant economic losses in these livestock species, up to £23 million in the UK alone. Because of its relatively large size and economic importance, it has been the subject of many scientific investigations and may be the best-known of any trematode species. F. hepatica's closest relative is Fasciola gigantica. These two flukes are sister species; they share many morphological features and can mate with each other.
Plagiorchiida is a large order of trematodes, synonymous to Echinostomida. They belong to the Digenea, a large subclass of flukes. This order contains relatively few significant parasites of humans.
Psilostomatidae is a family of trematodes in the order Plagiorchiida. They parasitise aquatic vertebrates as definitive hosts.
Opisthorchiidae is a family of digenean trematodes. Opisthorchiidae have cosmopolitan distribution.
Homalometron pallidum is a species of marine trematodes in the family Apocreadiidae. It is an endoparasite of the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, a small fish found in brackish water along the east coast of the United States and Canada. It has a complex life cycle and lives inside several different host species at different stages.
Opisthorchiata is a suborder of flatworms in the subclass Digenea.
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.
Telorchis is a genus of trematode parasites found in many herps, comprising around 70 species. This parasite is an indirect parasite, with a snail intermediate host and a reptile or amphibian definitive host. Typically found in the gastrointestinal tract of their definitive host, telorchids attach to the wall of the intestinal tract with their ventral sucker, or acetabulum.
Echinostomatidae is a family of trematodes in the order Plagiorchiida, first described in 1899.
Stellantchasmus is a genus of trematodes in the family Heterophyidae.
Microcotyle caudata is a species of monogenean, parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.
Bivagina centrodonti is a species of monogenean, parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.
Microcotyle gimpo is a species of monogenean, parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.
Microcotyle sebastisci is a species of monogenean, parasitic on the gills of marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.
Microcotyle pempheri is a species of monogenean, parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Microcotylidae.
Sibitrema poonui is a species of monogenean flatworm, which is parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Gastrocotylidae.
Allopseudaxine yaito is a species of monogenean flatworm, which is parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Axinidae.
Allopseudaxine katsuwonis is a species of monogenean flatworm, which is parasitic on the gills of a marine fish. It belongs to the family Axinidae.
Prosomicrocotyla is a genus of monogenean. Species of Prosomicrocotyla 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. Members of Prosomicrocotyla are characterised by a spatulate body; an haptor divided into two separate frills bordering posterior half of body proper, commencing at level of ovary; a non differentiated cirrus; a genital atrium forming a sucker-like structure armed with spines and a single middorsal vagina.
