List of parasitic organisms

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.

Endoparasites

(endo = within; parasites that live inside their hosts)

Plants

• Rafflesia

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

Fungi

• Ringworm
• Gymnosporangium and other rusts
• Pyrenophora teres
• Cordyceps

Ectoparasites

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

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

Annelids

• Hirudinea (some leeches)

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 Maasai people of Africa make the blood of cattle a part of their diet. The Maasai 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, oxpeckers 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