Page 121 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide

SCHISTOSOME FLUKE
This highly specialized flatworm lives in the blood
vessels that surround the human bladder or
intestines. Male and female worms live together,
held in place by the male’s suckers (left).
Together, they produce millions of eggs that
may pass out of the body to infect new hosts.

ISOPOD
Some members of this
group of crustaceans are
ectoparasites of fish. They
attach to and erode the
skin around the eyes,
mouth, or gills of their
host, and feed on blood
and tissues. Isopod TICK ON FROG
parasites make the fish
less streamlined so it This blood feeder pierces the skin of its host, in this case
swims less efficiently. a frog, using its hooked mouthparts. These hold the tick
Other isopods are not firmly in place for hours or days as it fills up with blood,
truly parasitic and feed on swelling greatly as it does so. Fully engorged, the tick
falls off its host and digests its meal.
discarded food scraps.

TAPEWORM
Hooks and suckers anchor the
scolex (head) of this tapeworm to
the intestine of its host, in this case
a cat. The ribbonlike flatworm can
grow to more than 33 ft (10 m) in
length. It has no mouth, but
absorbs food from the host’s
intestine through its surface.

MITES
Like ticks, mites are relatives of
spiders. Some are free-living,
but many are parasites of both
invertebrates and vertebrates.
This mass of parasitic mites
carried on the back of a beetle
is sucking out its tissues.

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