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Webster 1913 Edition
Trematodea
‖
Tremˊa-to′de-a
,Noun.
pl.
[NL., from Gr. [GREEK] having holes, from [GREEK], [GREEK], a hole.]
(Zool.)
An extensive order of parasitic worms. They are found in the internal cavities of animals belonging to all classes. Many species are found, also, on the gills and skin of fishes. A few species are parasitic on man, and some, of which the fluke is the most important, are injurious parasites of domestic animals. The trematodes usually have a flattened body covered with a chitinous skin, and are furnished with two or more suckers for adhesion. Most of the species are hermaphrodite. Called also
Trematoda
, and Trematoidea
. See Fluke
, Tristoma
, and Cercaria
.