cercaria
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A free-swimming, tadpole-like young form of a parasitic worm that loses its tail when it becomes an adult
- noun
- /sɜrˈkɛrɪə/
- Specialized
:
cercaria
- Scientists studied the behavior of the cercaria as it left the snail host.
Examples
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Swimmers can become infected when cercariae penetrate human skin in contaminated water.
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The cercaria swims freely in the water.
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The cercaria uses its tail for movement before finding its next host.
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Many cercariae can infect freshwater snails.
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A cercaria swims in the water before it finds a host to develop into an adult worm.
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The life cycle of a trematode begins when a cercaria infects a fish.
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Researchers observed how a cercaria transforms as it matures into its final form.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cercaria comes from an old Greek word kerkos meaning 'tail', because this larva looks like a small tadpole with a tail. So cercaria is named for the tail it uses to swim before it becomes an adult worm.