List of parasitic organisms

From Wikipedia, the free 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.

[edit]Endoparasites
(endo = within; parasites that live inside their hosts)

[edit]Plants

Rafflesia

[edit]Parasitic

worms

These can be categorized into three groups; cestodes, nematodes and trematodes. Examples include:

Acanthocephala

Ascariasis (roundworms)

Cestoda (tapeworms) including: Taenia saginata (human beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (human pork
tapeworm), Diphyllobothrium latum (fish tapeworm) and Echinococcosis (hydatid tapeworm)

Clonorchis sinensis (the Chinese liver fluke)

Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea Worm)

Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm)

Filariasis

Hookworm

Loa loa

Onchocerciasis (river blindness)

Schistosomiasis

Strongyloides stercoralis

Toxocara canis (dog roundworm)

Trichinella

Whipworm

pop soli- a worm to receive blood from humans

[edit]Fungi

Ringworm

Gymnosporangium and other rusts

Pyrenophora teres

Cordyceps

[edit]Ectoparasites
(ecto = outside; parasites that live on but not within their hosts, for example, attached to their skin)

[edit]Plants

Broomrape

Cuscuta

Mistletoe

Strangler Fig

Santalum, hemi-parasitic. (Sandalwoods and Quandongs)

Toothwort

The wood rose, Dactylanthus taylorii

[edit]Arthropoda
Acari (ticks, some mites)

Varroa destructor

Cymothoa exigua

Hippoboscoidea

Tsetse fly

Lipoptena

Sheep Keds and relatives)

Ichneumonoidea (oviparous parasitoid wasps)

Oestridae (bot flies)

Human botfly

Phthiraptera (Lice)

Body louse

Crab louse

Head louse

Siphonaptera (Fleas)

Tantulocarida

[edit]Annelids

Hirudinea (some leeches)

[edit]Vertebrates

Candiru (Vampire fish of Brazil, really a facultative parasite)

Lampreys

Humans- Humans in certain cultures have adapted behaviors that could be defined as parasitic.
The Masai people of Africa make the blood of cattle a part of their diet. The Masai 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, opeckers 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 bat

Vampire Finch