Aquatic Parasite Observatory

Halipegus  spp. (Looss, 1899)

    • Species Name: Halipegus spp. (Looss, 1899)
    • Synonyms: None
    • Taxonomy: (Looss, 1899) Animalia, Platyhelminthes, Trematoda, Plagiorchiida, Hemiuridae, Halipegus spp.
    • Life Cycle: "Some species of Halipegus use snails (e.g. Helisoma and Physa) as a first intermediate hosts, ostracods and copepods as second intermediate hosts, and amphibians as the definitive host" (Macy, 1960; Thomas, 1939).
    • Description:
      2. Ventral sucker near middle of body. Gut-caeca end blindly. Testes symmetrical to slightly oblique. Seminal vesicle saccular. Pars prostatica short, may be reduced. Sinus-sac absent. Hermaphroditic duct short to absent. Genital atrium small. Ovary usually separated from testes by uterus. Laurer's canal present. Juel's organ absent. Uterus not extending posteriorly to vitellarium, usually with about equal distribution in fore- and hindbodies. Eggs with long, single filament at anopercular pole. Viterllarium two relatively symmetrical masses, usually clearly four- and fivelobed. Parasitic upper regions of gut (usually stomach or mouth, occasionally aer) of amphibians, occasionally in fish and reptiles.
    • Sources: Bray, R.A., Gibson D.I., and Jones, A. 2002. Keys to the Trematoda, Vol. 1, p. 361.
      Macy, R.W., Cook, W.A., and DeMott, W.R. 1960. Studies on the life cycle of Halipegus occidualis Stafford, 1905 (Trematoda: Hemiuridae). Northwest Sciences. Vol. 34, No. 1, p. 1-17.
      Thomas, L.J. 1939.Life Cycle of a Fluke, Halipegus eccentricus n. sp., Found in the Ears of Frogs. The Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 25, No. 3, p. 207-221.
    • APO Parasite Records: (by Life Cycle)

Distribution Map:

  • University of Colorado Boulder