Nematomorpha are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size from 50 to 100 millimetres long, reaching 2 metres in extreme cases, and 1 to 3 millimetres in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas, such as watering troughs, swimming pools, streams, puddles, and cisterns. The adult worms are free-living, but the larvae are parasitic on arthropods, such as beetles, cockroaches, mantises, orthopterans, and crustaceans. About 351 freshwater species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 freshwater species worldwide. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorphs often coil themselves in tight balls that resemble knots.
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes.
Strongyloides stercoralis is a human pathogenic parasitic roundworm causing the disease strongyloidiasis. Its common name in the US is threadworm. In the UK and Australia, however, the term threadworm can also refer to nematodes of the genus Enterobius, otherwise known as pinworms.
Francesco Redi was an Italian physician, naturalist, biologist, and poet. He is referred to as the "founder of experimental biology", and as the "father of modern parasitology". He was the first person to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies.
Professor Marshall Lightowlers began his career in the field of parasitology during a post-doctoral appointment at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide where he undertook research on ovine sarcocystosis. In 1981 he began a post-doctoral position at The University of Melbourne, Veterinary Clinical Centre and commenced a research career focusing on the immunology and molecular biology of taeniid cestode parasites. His initial research at the University of Melbourne investigated the immunochemistry of antigens of Taenia taeniaeformis and Echinococcus granulosus. Subsequently he was a member of a team of scientists that developed a vaccine against Taenia ovis infection in sheep, the first recombinant vaccine against a parasitic disease. In 1989 Lightowlers took over leadership of the molecular parasitology research laboratories at the University of Melbourne and began applying the lessons learnt with T. ovis to the development of similar vaccines against infection with the larval stages of other cestode parasites. This led to the development of highly effective, recombinant vaccines against cysticercosis in cattle due to Taenia saginata (TSA9/TSA18) and in pigs due to Taenia solium. In collaboration with Dr David Heath at the Wallaceville Animal Research Centre in New Zealand, he and his colleagues also developed the EG95 recombinant vaccine against cystic echinococcosis.
The bluespotted ribbontail ray is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. Found from the intertidal zone to a depth of 30 m (100 ft), this species is common throughout the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans in nearshore, coral reef-associated habitats. It is a fairly small ray, not exceeding 35 cm (14 in) in width, with a mostly smooth, oval pectoral fin disc, large protruding eyes, and a relatively short and thick tail with a deep fin fold underneath. It can be easily identified by its striking color pattern of many electric blue spots on a yellowish background, with a pair of blue stripes on the tail.
Hugh McLeod Gordon, was a pioneering Australian veterinary scientist and parasitologist.
Dame Bridget Margaret Ogilvie, is an Australian and British scientist.
Ernest Jackson Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior was a British microbiologist and parasitologist. In 1990 he was made a Conservative life peer and sat in the House of Lords until his retirement in December 2015.
Allen Press is a printer and publisher of scientific, academic and scholarly journals as well as commercial trade publications. Founded by Harold Allen in 1935, the company is located in Lawrence, Kansas.
The European Federation of Parasitologists (EFP) is a non-profit scientific international organization, founded in November 1966 by Witold Stefański who was its first president. It gathers around 30 national societies of parasitology of European countries. The original bylaws were published in the International Journal for Parasitology in 1979. Hundreds of European scientists are affiliated to the EFP through their national societies. The EFP is a member of the World Federation of Parasitologists. The EFP aims at helping human or animal health authorities in fighting any emerging parasitic problem.
Capillaria hepatica is a parasitic nematode which causes hepatic capillariasis in rodents and numerous other mammal species, including humans. The life cycle of C. hepatica may be completed in a single host species. However, the eggs, which are laid in the liver, must mature outside of the host body prior to infecting a new host. So the death of the host in which the adults reach sexual maturity, either by being eaten or dying and decomposing, is necessary for completion of the life cycle.
Klaus Rohde is a German biologist at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, known particularly for his work on marine parasitology, evolutionary ecology/zoogeography, and phylogeny/ultrastructure of lower invertebrates.
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.
The Journal of Parasitology is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research on parasites published bimonthly by Allen Press on behalf of the American Society of Parasitologists. Content includes research articles, brief research notes, announcements of the society, and book reviews. It was founded and edited by Henry Baldwin Ward in 1914.
Parasite is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all aspects of human and animal parasitology. The journal publishes reviews, articles, and short notes. It is published by EDP Sciences and is an official journal of the Société Française de Parasitologie. It is published by EDP Sciences and the editor-in-chief is Jean-Lou Justine. The journal was established in 1923 as Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparée and obtained its current title in 1994, with volume numbering restarting at 1.
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.
The Diplectanidae are a family of monopisthocotylean monogeneans. They are all parasitic on the gills of fish. Diplectanids are small animals, generally around 1 mm in length. As parasites, they can be extremely numerous, up to several thousand on an individual fish.
Stephen Charles Donnellan is the Chief Research Scientist of the Evolutionary Biology Unit at the South Australian Museum. He is also an Affiliate Professor at the University of Adelaide. Donnellan moved from New South Wales to South Australia in 1985 to undertake research recovering the evolutionary history of Australia's lizards. This work led to the establishment of a comprehensive collection of reptile and frog tissues from Australia and New Guinea. In 1990 Donnellan joined the South Australian Museum's staff and established the DNA laboratory there. His research since has focused on the evolution and biogeography of Australasian fauna. Donnellan has used molecular genetic methods to examine issues in the population genetics, phylogeography and phylogenetic relationships of vertebrates and selected invertebrate groups. Many of his research projects have been supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC). His work has been published in numerous scientific journals, including Biological Conservation, Evolution, International Journal for Parasitology, PLOS One, Restoration Ecology, Zoologica Scripta and Zootaxa.
Veena Tandon is an Indian parasitologist, academic and a NASI senior scientist at Biotech Park, Lucknow. She is a former professor of zoology at the North Eastern Hill University and serves as the chief instigator for the North-East India Helminth Parasite Information Database. She is known for her researches on worm infections afflicting the animals of food value and is the author of two books and several articles on parasitology.
