General Characteristics
- trematodes
- all are parasitic
- they have several hold fast devices present (opisthaptor)
- they have complicated life cycles involving sexual and asexual reproduction
- they are digenetic flukes
- they have 2 hosts; the intermediate host is a snail while the definitive host is a vertebrate
- almost all adult flukes are parasites of vertebrates but immature stages may be found in vertebrates and invertebrates or encysted on plants
- they are flat and oval to elongate
- they feed on host cells and cell fragments
- tegument- the outer layer of the epidermis which forms a syncytium and is highly effective at providing protection and absorbing nutrients
- scyncytium - a continuous layer of fused cells
- about 10000 species
- Examples in Humans: Chinese Liver Fluke (Clonorchis sinensis), Sheep Liver Fluke (Fasciola hepatica), Schistosomes (Dioecious Blood Fluke)
Life Cycle
|
|
Subclass Aspidogastrea
General Characteristics
|
Subclass Digenea
General Characteristics
|