Global InformationBucephalus polymorphus information
| Bucephalus polymorphus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cercaria larva of B. polymorphus from Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Class: | Trematoda |
| Order: | Plagiorchiida |
| Family: | Bucephalidae |
| Genus: | Bucephalus |
| Species: | B. polymorphus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Bucephalus polymorphus Baer, 1827
| |
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 (i.e. flatworm). 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.
The adults occur in the gut of marine and fresh-water fish. The metacercariae encyst in smaller fish, sometimes in the nervous system. These parasitic flatworms are dorso-ventrally flattened animals[1] characterized by a bilaterally symmetrical body enclosed within a syncytial tegument. They have a distal, anucleate later (distal cytoplasm). The distal cytoplasm contains vesicular inclusions that are Golgi derived.[2] The adults of these acoelomate worms are common in the digestive tract, but are also found in other organs of vertebrates. The adult parasite attaches via a characteristic anterior adhesive organ with tentacles. This organ is recognized as a holdfast, which helps Bucephalus to stay attached to the host's organs.[3] Bucephalus are native to North American fresh waters that parasitize freshwater bivalves.[4]
- ^ "Platyhelminthes -- Encylopedic Reference of Parasitology". Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
- ^ G. Schmidt and L. Roberts: Foundations of Parasitology (Seventh Ed.) McGraw-Hill. New York, NY, 2005.
- ^ Yamaguti, S.: Synopsis of digenetic trematodes of vertebrates Keigaku Publishing Company. Tokyo, 1971.
- ^ Malloy et al.: "Survey of the Parasites of Zebra Mussels (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) in Northwestern Russia, with Comments on Records of Parasitism in Europe and North America." J. Helminthol. Soc. Wash. 63(2), 1996, pp. 251-256