List of parasitic organisms
Encyclopedia
This is an incomplete list of organisms that are true parasites
upon other organisms. For more information on this topic, see main article: Parasitism
. For information on parasitoids, see main article: Parasitoid
.
Parasitic worm
These can be categorized into three groups; cestodes, nematodes and trematodes. Examples include:
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
upon other organisms. For more information on this topic, see main article: Parasitism
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
. For information on parasitoids, see main article: Parasitoid
Parasitoid
A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...
.
Parasitic wormParasitic wormParasitic worms or helminths are a division of eukaryoticparasites that, unlike external parasites such as lice and fleas, live inside their host. They are worm-like organisms that live and feed off living hosts, receiving nourishment and protection while disrupting their hosts' nutrient...
s
These can be categorized into three groups; cestodes, nematodes and trematodes. Examples include:
- AcanthocephalaAcanthocephalaAcanthocephala is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephales, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an evertable proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to pierce and hold the gut wall of its host...
- AscariasisAscariasisAscariasis is a human disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. Perhaps as many as one quarter of the world's people are infected, with rates of 45% in Latin America and 95% in parts of Africa. Ascariasis is particularly prevalent in tropical regions and in areas of poor...
(roundworms) - CestodaCestodaThis article describes the flatworm. For the medical condition, see Tapeworm infection.Cestoda is the name given to a class of parasitic flatworms, commonly called tapeworms, of the phylum Platyhelminthes. Its members live in the digestive tract of vertebrates as adults, and often in the bodies...
(tapeworms) including: Taenia saginataTaenia saginataTaenia saginata, also known as Taeniarhynchus saginata or the beef tapeworm, is a parasite of both cattle and humans, causing taeniasis in humans. Taenia saginata occurs where cattle are raised by infected humans maintaining poor hygiene, human feces are improperly disposed of, meat inspection...
(human beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (human pork tapeworm), Diphyllobothrium latum (fish tapeworm) and EchinococcosisEchinococcosisEchinococcosis, which is often referred to as hydatid disease or echinococcal disease, is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and other mammals, such as sheep, dogs, rodents and horses. There are three different forms of echinococcosis found in humans, each of which is caused by the larval...
(hydatid tapeworm) - Clonorchis sinensisClonorchis sinensisClonorchis sinensis, the Chinese liver fluke, is a human liver fluke in the class Trematoda, Phylum Platyhelminthes. This parasite lives in the liver of humans, and is found mainly in the common bile duct and gall bladder, feeding on bile...
(the Chinese liver fluke) - DracunculusDracunculusDracunculus is a genus of spiruroid nematode parasites in the family Dracunculidae. Some species infest humans, and alter their hosts’ behaviour in a way that supports the worm’s reproductive cycle. Dracunculus causes a blister to form on foot of the host, causing severe pain and boiling sensation...
medinensis (Guinea Worm) - Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm)
- FilariasisFilariasisFilariasis is a parasitic disease and is considered an infectious tropical disease, that is caused by thread-like nematodes belonging to the superfamily Filarioidea, also known as "filariae"....
- HookwormHookwormThe hookworm is a parasitic nematode that lives in the small intestine of its host, which may be a mammal such as a dog, cat, or human. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. A. duodenale predominates in the Middle East, North Africa, India...
- Loa loaLoa loaLoa loa is the filarial nematode species that causes Loa loa filariasis. It is commonly known as the "eye worm". Its geographic distribution includes Africa and India....
- OnchocerciasisOnchocerciasisOnchocerciasis , also known as river blindness and Robles' disease, is a parasitic disease caused by infection by Onchocerca volvulus, a nematode . Onchocerciasis is the world's second-leading infectious cause of blindness. It is not the nematode, but its endosymbiont, Wolbachia pipientis, that...
(river blindness) - SchistosomiasisSchistosomiasisSchistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
- Strongyloides stercoralisStrongyloides stercoralisStrongyloides stercoralis, also known as the threadworm, is the scientific name of a human parasitic roundworm causing the disease of strongyloidiasis....
- Toxocara canisToxocara canisToxocara canis is worldwide distributed helminth parasite of dogs and other canids. T. canis are gonochorists, adult worms measure from 9 to 18 cm, are yellow-white in color, and occur in the intestine of the definitive host. In adult dogs, the infection is usually asymptomatic. By the...
(dog roundworm) - TrichinellaTrichinellaTrichinella is the genus of parasitic roundworms of the phylum Nematoda that cause trichinosis . Members of this genus are often called trichinella or trichina worms...
- WhipwormWhipwormThe human tapworm is a roundworm, which causes trichuriasis when it infects a human large intestine. The name whipworm refers to the shape of the worm; they look like whips with wider "handles" at the posterior end.-Life cycle:The female T. trichiura produces 2,000–10,000 single celled eggs per day...
- pop soli- a worm to receive blood from humans
Fungi
- Ringworm
- GymnosporangiumGymnosporangiumGymnosporangium is a genus of heteroecious plant-pathogenic fungi which alternately infect members of the family Cupressaceae, primarily species in the genus Juniperus , and members of the family Rosaceae in the subfamily Maloideae...
and other rusts - Pyrenophora teresPyrenophora teresPyrenophora teres is a necrotrophic fungal pathogen of some plant species, the most significant of which are economically important agricultural crops such as barley.- Dispersal and spread :...
- CordycepsCordycepsCordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 400 described species. All Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, mainly on insects and other arthropods ; a few are parasitic on other fungi. The best known species of the genus is Cordyceps sinensis, first recorded as yartsa gunbu in...
Ectoparasites
(ecto = outside; parasites that live on but not within their hosts, for example, attached to their skin)Arthropoda
- Acari (ticks, some mites)
- Varroa destructorVarroa destructorVarroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroatosis....
- Varroa destructor
- Cymothoa exiguaCymothoa exiguaCymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. It tends to be long. This parasite enters through the gills, and then attaches itself at the base of the spotted rose snapper's tongue. It extracts blood through the claws on its front, causing the...
- HippoboscoideaHippoboscoideaHippoboscoidea is a superfamily of Calyptratae. The flies in this superfamily are blood-feeding obligate parasites of their hosts. Five families are often placed here:* Glossinidae* Hippoboscidae...
- Tsetse flyTsetse flyTsetse , sometimes spelled tzetze and also known as tik-tik flies, are large biting flies that inhabit much of mid-continental Africa between the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. They live by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals and are the primary biological vectors of trypanosomes, which...
- LipoptenaLipoptenaLipoptena is a genus of Hippoboscidae, known as louse flies or keds.-Systematics:*Genus Lipoptena Nitzsch, 1818*Species group 'a'Lipoptena is a genus of Hippoboscidae, known as louse flies or keds.-Systematics:...
- Sheep Keds and relatives)
- Tsetse fly
- Ichneumonoidea (oviparous parasitoid wasps)
- Oestridae (bot flies)
- Human botfly
- Phthiraptera (Lice)
- Body louseBody louseThe body louse is a louse which infests humans. The condition of being infested with head lice, body lice, or pubic lice is known as pediculosis.-Origins:...
- Crab louseCrab louseCrab lice are parasitic insects notorious for infesting human pubic hair. The species may also live on other areas with hair, including the eyelashes. They feed exclusively on blood...
- Head louseHead louseThe head louse is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. Head lice are wingless insects spending their entire life on human scalp and feeding exclusively on human blood...
- Body louse
- Siphonaptera (Fleas)
- TantulocaridaTantulocaridaTantulocarida is a highly specialised group of parasitic crustaceans that consists of about 33 species, treated as a subclass of the class Maxillopoda . They are typically ectoparasites that infest copepods, isopods, tanaids, amphipods and ostracods...
Vertebrates
- CandiruCandirúCandiru or candirú , also known as cañero, toothpick fish, or vampire fish, are a number of genera of parasitic freshwater catfish in the family Trichomycteridae; all are native to the Amazon River...
(Vampire fish of Brazil, really a facultative parasite) - Lampreys
- Humans- Humans in certain cultures have adapted behaviors that could be defined as parasitic. The Maasai people of Africa make the blood of cattle a part of their diet. The Maasai drain blood from the carotid artery of the cow, and collect it for use in cooking as a source of protein. The cow is kept alive before, during, and after the process, meaning that the blood harvesting could be seen as a parasitic behavior.
- Oxpeckers- Although oxpeckers mainly eat other parasites that feed on large mammals, oxpeckers have been observed to open new wounds and enhance existing ones in order to drink the blood of their perches. Oxpeckers also feed on the earwax and dandruffs of mammals, although less is known about the benefits of this to the mammal, it is suspected that this is also a parasitic behaviour. Some oxpecker hosts are intolerant of their presence. Elephants and some antelope will actively dislodge, the oxpeckers when they land.
- Vampire batVampire batVampire bats are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. There are three bat species that feed solely on blood: the Common Vampire Bat , the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat , and the White-winged Vampire Bat .All three species are native to the Americas, ranging from Mexico to...
- Vampire FinchVampire FinchThe Vampire Finch is a small bird native to the Galápagos Islands. It is a very distinct subspecies of the Sharp-beaked Ground Finch endemic to Wolf and Darwin Islands....