Monogenea
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monogenea are a type of flatworms. They are parasites, and live on the outside of their host.
[edit] Ecology and life cycle
Monogenea are especially common on the skin, fins and gills of fishes. Less commonly, they can be found in the urinary bladder and rectum of cold-blooded vertebrates. None infect birds, but one (Oculotrema hippopotami) infects mammals. It is a parasite in the eye of a hippopotamus.
Monogenea are usually hermaphrodites. First they are males, and only later do they become females as well.They have direct life-cycles with no asexual reproduction (unlike the Digenea). Those Monogenea that lay eggs there is a larval stage called an oncomiracidium. This stage is there for the transmission from host to host. As adults, they eat the blood, mucus, and epithelial cells of their host.
