Double animal
| Double animal | ||||||||||||
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Double animal ( Diplozoon paradoxum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Diplozoon | ||||||||||||
| Nordmann, 1832 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Diplozoon paradoxum | ||||||||||||
| Nordmann , 1832 |
The double animal ( Diplozoon paradoxum ) belongs to the class of the Monogenea within the Cercomeromorpha , which also contain the tapeworms (Cestoda) and, next to the flukes (Trematoda), represent the second large group of parasites among the flatworms (platelet worms ). Diplozoon paradoxum lives ectoparasitic on the gills of freshwater fish, mostly carp-like .
features
The double animal usually only occurs as a pair, with two individuals growing together crosswise. It reaches a body length of six to ten millimeters. An unpaired belly cup develops on the belly side, which the couple can use to attach themselves to the host.
Way of life
The double is egg-laying and lays its eggs on the gills of the host, after about 10 days the larvae hatch ( oncomiracidia with suction discs and hooks). The conjugation takes place after the attachment of the larvae by the loss of the eyelashes to Diporpa have developed on Kiemenepithel by two individuals with the aid of push-button-like structures to anneal consisting of a stomach suction cup and a back journal cross and a Dauerkopula form. The two hermaphroditic animals grow together permanently and inseparably and continue to live in pairs after mutual fertilization. The vas deferens that transport the sperm out of the testicles grow together with the vagina of the respective partner, which guarantees a lifelong mutual insemination.
source
- Reinhard Rieger : Plathelminths, flatworms. In: Wilfried Westheide , Reinhard Rieger (Ed.): Special Zoology. Part 1: Protozoa and invertebrates. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart et al. 1996, ISBN 3-437-20515-3 , pp. 243-247.
