Fascioloides magna

Giant liver fluke
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Class: Trematoda
Order: Plagiorchiida
Family: Fasciolidae
Genus: Fascioloides
Species:
F. magna
Binomial name
Fascioloides magna
Bassi, 1875

Fascioloides magna, also known as giant liver fluke, large American liver fluke or deer fluke, is trematode parasite that occurs in wild and domestic ruminants in North America and Europe. Adult flukes occur in the liver of the definitive host and feed on blood. Mature flukes measure 4 to 10 centimetres (1+12 to 4 in) in length × 2 to 3.5 centimetres (34 to 1+38 in) in width, and have an oval dorso-ventrally flattened body with oral and ventral sucker. The flukes are reddish-brown in colour and are covered by tegument. As with other digenean trematodes, the life cycle includes intramolluscan phase in snails.[1][2] The parasite is currently distributed in wild ruminants in North America and Europe, including Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and the United States.[3]

  1. ^ Erhardová-Kotrlá, B., 1971. The occurrence of Fascioloides magna (Bassi, 1875) in Czechoslovakia. Academia, Prague, 155 pp.
  2. ^ Pybus, M.J., 2001. Liver flukes. In: Samuel, W.M., Pybus, M.J., Kocan, A.A. (eds.), Parasitic diseases in wild mammals, Iowa State Press, Iowa City, pp 121–149.
  3. ^ Juhásová, Ludmila; Králová-Hromadová, Ivica; Bazsalovicsová, Eva; Minárik, Gabriel; Štefka, Jan; Mikulíček, Peter; Pálková, Lenka; Pybus, Margo (2016-10-13). "Population structure and dispersal routes of an invasive parasite, Fascioloides magna, in North America and Europe". Parasites & Vectors. 9 (1): 547. doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1811-z. PMC 5064932. PMID 27737705.