''Opisthorchis'' is a genus of

fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

s in the family

Opisthorchiidae Opisthorchiidae is a family of digenean trematodes. Opisthorchiidae have cosmopolitan distribution. The most medically important species in the family Opisthorchiidae are ''Clonorchis sinensis'', ''Opisthorchis viverrini'', and '' Opisthorchis ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Opisthorchis'' include: * '' Opisthorchis chabaudi'' Bourgat & Kulo, 1977 * ''

Opisthorchis felineus ''Opisthorchis felineus'', or cat liver fluke is a trematode parasite that infects the liver in mammals. It was first discovered in 1884 in a cat's liver by Sebastiano Rivolta of Italy. In 1891, Russian parasitologist, Konstantin Nikolaevich V ...

'' (Rivolta, 1884) * '' Opisthorchis gomtii'' Mehra, 1941 * '' Opisthorchis parasiluri'' Long & Lee * ''

Opisthorchis viverrini ''Opisthorchis viverrini'', common name Southeast Asian liver fluke, is a food-borne trematode parasite from the family Opisthorchiidae that infects the bile duct. People are infected after eating raw or undercooked fish. Infection with the par ...

'' Poirier, 1886 The species known as ''

Clonorchis sinensis ''Clonorchis sinensis'', the Chinese liver fluke, is a liver fluke belonging to the class Trematoda, phylum Platyhelminthes. It infects fish-eating mammals, including humans. In humans, it infects the common bile duct and gall bladder, feeding o ...

'' has sometimes been reclassified into the genus ''Opisthorchis''.

Etymology

From the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

opisthen (behind) and orchis (testicle), Opisthorchis is a genus of

trematode Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host ...

flatworms whose

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...

are located in the posterior end of the body.

Sebastiano Rivolta Sebastiano is both a masculine Italian given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Sebastiano Antonio Tanara (1650–1724), Italian cardinal * Sebastiano Baggio (1913–1993), Italian clergyman * Sebastiano Bianchi (16th cent ...

is generally credited with discovering the first opisthorchid, which he named Distoma felineus, in a cat in Italy in 1884. However, the fluke may have been mentioned by

Karl Rudolphi Karl Asmund Rudolphi (14 July 1771 – 29 November 1832) was a Swedish-born German naturalist, who is credited with being the "father of helminthology". Life Rudolphi was born in Stockholm to German parents. He was awarded his PhD in 1793 an ...

in 1819, and in 1831, Gurlt published a textbook that included a drawing of a fluke that was almost certainly Opisthorchis. By the end of the 19th century, Distoma contained so many species that Raphaël Blanchard introduced the genus Opisthorchis for elongated flat flukes with testes in the posterior end of the body. He chose Rivolta's Opisthorchis felineus as the type species.

References

''Includes public domain text from the CDC as cited''

External links

* Digenea genera {{Trematoda-stub

Species

Etymology

See also

References

External links