metacercaria
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metacercaria
[met″ah-ser-kar´e-ah] (pl. metacerca´riae)The encysted resting or maturing stage of a trematode parasite in the tissues of an intermediate host.
met·a·cer·car·i·a
, pl.met·a·cer·ca·ri·ae
(met'ă-ser-kar'ē-ă, -ē),The postcercarial encysted stage in the life history of a fluke, before transfer to the definitive host. Some cercariae attach themselves to grass or other vegetation, form metacercaria, and later are ingested by herbivores, as in Fasciola and similar forms; others encyst in muscles of fish, as in Clonorchis, or in crayfish, as in Paragonimus.
[meta- + G. kerkos, tail]
met·a·cer·car·i·a
, pl. metacercariae (met'ă-sĕr-kar'ē-ă, -ē)The postcercarial encysted stage in the life history of a fluke, before transfer to the definitive host. Some cercariae attach themselves to vegetation, form metacercariae, and are ingested by herbivores; others encyst in muscles of fish or crayfish.
[meta- + G. kerkos, tail]
metacercaria
a developmental stage in endoparasitic flukes in which the CERCARIA larva loses its tail (to become a metacercaria larva). Except in schistosomes the stage occurs while the organism is in the vertebrate host and it then develops directly into the adult.Metacercaria (plural, metacercariae)
The encysted stage of a fluke larva that produces infection in human beings.
Mentioned in: Fluke Infections