Flukes: Trematoda
No Common Name (fasciola Hepatica): Species Accounts
Physical characteristics: Adult Fasciola hepatica (abbreviated to F. hepatica) are a little more than 1 inch (3 centimeters) long and three-eighths of an inch (1 centimeter) wide. They have a spiny outer covering. The front end has a mouth sucker and a cone-shaped tip, and the rear end is tapered. The sucker on the fluke's lower surface is larger than the mouth sucker.
Geographic range: F. hepatica live all over the world but mainly in Europe, Mexico, and Central America.
Habitat: F. hepatica live in swampy freshwater areas inhabited by snails. Snails are their sole intermediate hosts. The primary hosts include grazing mammals such as sheep, cattle, and horses; farm animals such as hogs; pets such as dogs, cats, and rabbits; and humans.
Diet: F. hepatica feed on the lining of the ducts, or tubes, in the liver, causing hardening of the ducts.
Behavior and reproduction: The eggs of Fasciola hepatica, which are deposited in the environment in the primary host's feces, hatch in
Fasciola hepatica feed on the lining of the ducts, or tubes, in the liver, causing hardening of the ducts.
Fasciola hepatica and people: Humans infected with F. hepatica may have symptoms ranging from skin inflammation to pneumonia. Fluke infection can result in massive bleeding in horses, a reduction of milk production in dairy cattle, and death in sheep.
Conservation status: Fasciola hepatica are not threatened or endangered. ∎
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Books:
Aaseng, Nathan. Invertebrates. New York: Venture, 1993.
Silverstein, Alvin, Virginia Silverstein, and Robert Silverstein. Invertebrates. New York: Twenty-First Century, 1996.
Zimmer, Carl. Parasite Rex. New York: Free Press, 2000.
Web sites:
Frey, Rebecca J. "Fluke Infections." AhealthyMe. http://www.ahealthyme.com/article/gale/100084581 (accessed on December 20, 2004).
Frisby, Holly. "Dicrocoelium dendriticum (Lancet Fluke)." PetEducation.com http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1621&articleid=731 (accessed on December 20, 2004).
Additional topics
- Flukes: Trematoda - Human Blood Fluke (schistosoma Mansoni): Species Accounts
- Other Free Encyclopedias
Animal Life ResourceJellyfish, Sponges, and Other Simple AnimalsFlukes: Trematoda - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Lancet Fluke (dicrocoelium Dendriticum): Species Accounts, Human Blood Fluke (schistosoma Mansoni): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, FLUKES AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATIO