A cercaria (plural cercariae) is the larval form of the trematode class of parasites. It develops within the germinal cells of the sporocyst or redia.[1] A cercaria has a tapering head with large penetration glands.[2] It may or may not have a long swimming "tail", depending on the species.[1] The motile cercaria finds and settles in a host where it will become either an adult, or a mesocercaria, or a metacercaria, according to species.

The term Cercaria is also used as a genus name in descriptions of species when only the larval form is known.[3]

Rotifers (Rotaria rotatoria) produce a chemical, Schistosome Paralysis Factor, suppressing cercaria swimming and reducing infections.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Glossary". VPTH 603 Veterinary Parasitology. University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  2. ^ "Schistosoma". Australian Society for Parasitology. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Cercaria Müller, 1773". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  4. ^ Gao, Jiarong; Yang, Ning; Lewis, Fred A.; Yau, Peter; Collins, James J.; Sweedler, Jonathan V.; Newmark, Phillip A. (2019). Khosla, Chaitan (ed.). "A rotifer-derived paralytic compound prevents transmission of schistosomiasis to a mammalian host". PLOS Biology. 17 (10): e3000485. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000485. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 6797223. PMID 31622335.
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