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.
Ribeiroia is a genus of trematode parasites that sequentially infect freshwater snails in the family Planorbidae as first intermediate hosts, fish and larval amphibians as second intermediate hosts, and birds and mammals as definitive hosts. In North America, infection by Ribeiroia has been linked to amphibians with limb malformations. The connection between parasitic infection and limb malformations has generated questions about (a) whether parasite-induced malformations in amphibians are increasing, and (b) the consequences of such abnormalities for amphibian population conservation.
A cercaria is the larval form of the trematode class of parasites. It develops within the germinal cells of the sporocyst or redia. A cercaria has a tapering head with large penetration glands. It may or may not have a long swimming "tail", depending on the species. The motile cercaria finds and settles in a host where it will become either an adult, or a mesocercaria, or a metacercaria, according to species.
Paragonimus westermani is the most common species of lung fluke that infects humans, causing paragonimiasis. Human infections are most common in eastern Asia and in South America. Paragonimiasis may present as a sub-acute to chronic inflammatory disease of the lung. It was discovered by Coenraad Kerbert (1849–1927) in 1878.
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.
Paragonimiasis is a food-borne parasitic disease caused by several species of lung flukes belonging to genus Paragonimus. Infection is acquired by eating crustaceans such as crabs and crayfishes which host the infective forms called metacercariae, or by eating raw or undercooked meat of mammals harboring the metacercariae from crustaceans.
Leucochloridium paradoxum, the green-banded broodsac, is a parasitic flatworm. Its intermediate hosts are land snails, usually of the genus Succinea. The pulsating, green broodsacs fill the eye stalks of the snail, thereby attracting predation by birds, the primary host. These broodsacs visually imitate caterpillars, a prey of birds. The adult parasite lives in the bird's cloaca, releasing its eggs into the faeces.
Metagonimoides oregonensis is a trematode, or fluke worm, in the family Heterophyidae. This North American parasite is found primarily in the intestines of raccoons, American minks, frogs in the genus Rana, and freshwater snails in the genus Goniobasis. It was first described in 1931 by E. W. Price. The parasite has a large distribution, from Oregon to North Carolina. Adult flukes vary in host range and morphology dependent on the geographical location. This results in different life cycles, as well as intermediate hosts, across the United States. On the west coast, the intermediate host is freshwater snails (Goniobasis), while on the east coast the intermediate host is salamanders (Desmognathus). The parasites on the west coast are generally much larger than on the east coast. For example, the pharynx as well as the body of the parasite are distinctly larger in Oregon than in North Carolina. The reverse pattern is observed on the east coast for uterine eggs, which are larger on the west coast. In snails, there is also a higher rate of infection in female snails than in males. Research on the life history traits of the parasites have been performed with hamsters and frogs as model species.
Fasciolopsis is a genus of trematodes. They are also known as giant intestinal flukes.
Nanophyetus salmincola is a food-borne intestinal trematode parasite prevalent on the Pacific Northwest coast. The species may be the most common trematode endemic to the United States.
Bucephalus polymorphus is a type of flatworm. This species is within the Bucephalidae family of Digenea, which in turn is a subclass of Trematodes within the phylum Platyhelminthes. It is characterized by having a mouth near the middle of its body, along with a sac-like gut. The mouth opening is located in the centre of the ventral surface. This is a specific body type of cecaria known as a gastrostome.
Echinostoma revolutum is a trematode parasite of which the adults can infect birds and mammals, including humans. In humans, it causes echinostomiasis.
Echinostoma hortense is an intestinal fluke of the class Trematoda, which has been found to infect humans in East Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. This parasite resides in the intestines of birds, rats and other mammals such as humans. While human infections are very rare in other regions of the world, East Asian countries have reported human infections up to about 24% of the population in some endemic sub-regions. E. hortense infections are zoonotic infections, which occurs from eating raw or undercooked freshwater fish. The primary disease associated with an E. hortense infection is called echinostomiasis, which is a general name given to diseases caused by Trematodes of the genus Echinostoma.
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.
Megalodiscus temperatus is a Digenean in the phylum Platyhelminthes. This parasite belongs to the Cladorchiidae family and is a common parasite located in the urinary bladder and rectum of frogs. The primary host is frogs and the intermediate hosts of Megalodiscus temeperatus are freshwater snails in the genus Helisoma.
Philophthalmus gralli, commonly known as the Oriental avian eye fluke, parasitises the conjunctival sac of the eyes of many species of birds, including birds of the orders Galliformes and Anseriformes. In Brazil this parasite was reported in native Anseriformes species. It was first discovered by Mathis and Leger in 1910 in domestic chickens from Hanoi, Vietnam. Birds are definitive hosts and freshwater snail species are intermediate hosts. Human cases of philophthalmosis are rare, but have been previously reported in Europe, Asia, and America.
Coitocaecum parvum is a digeneic trematode or flatworm (Platyhelminthes) that is parasitic to the intestine of the common bully or upland bully. The common and upland bully are freshwater fish of New Zealand that C. parvum uses as its definitive host. C. parvum is a hermaphroditic freshwater trematode that can omit its definitive host and produce eggs by selfing or progenesis inside its amphipod second intermediate host.
Metagonimus yokogawai, or the Yokogawa fluke, is a species of a trematode, or fluke worm, in the family Heterophyidae.
Heterobilharzia is a genus of trematodes in the family Schistosomatidae. The species Heterobilharzia Americana is a parasite of the Southeastern United States and typically found in raccoons. Species of this genus are responsible for Schistosoma in canines. Cercariae found in freshwater may also cause Swimmer's itch in humans.
