''Plasmodium lucens'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a ver ...

'' subgenus ''

Novyella ''Novyella'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' - all of which are parasites. The subgenus was created in 1963 by Corradetti ''et al.'' Species in this subgenus infect birds. It unites the avian malaria parasites with small erythrocytic m ...

''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. lucens'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Valkiūnas ''et al.'' in 2008.Valkiūnas G., Iezhova T.A., Loiseau C., Smith T.B., Sehgal R.N. (2008) New malaria parasites of the subgenus ''Novyella'' in African rainforest birds, with remarks on their high prevalence, classification and diagnostics. Parasitol. Res.

Distribution

This parasite is found in West Africa.

Vectors

Not known.

Hosts

''P. lucens'' infects the olive sunbird ('' Cyanomitra olivacea'').

References

lucens Parasites of birds {{plasmodium-stub