page_title: Paragonimus
section_title: Morphology
hierarchical_section_title: Paragonimus / Morphology
caption_attribution_description: English: Paragonimus westermani - adult worm OS: oral sucker CE: cecum OV: ovary TE: testes EB: excretory bladder UT: uterus AC: acetabulum (ventral sucker) Čeština: Paragonimus westermani - dospělec.
context_page_description: Paragonimus is a genus of flukes. Some tens of species have been described, but they are difficult to distinguish, so it is not clear how many of the named species may be synonyms. The name Paragonimus is derived from the combination of two Greek words, “para” and “gonimos”. Several of the species are known as lung flukes. In humans some of the species occur as zoonoses; the term for the condition is paragonimiasis. The first intermediate hosts of Paragonimus include at least 54 species of freshwater snails from superfamilies Cerithioidea and Rissooidea.
  The most prominent species of Paragonimus in human medicine is Paragonimus westermani, an infectious lung fluke originating in eastern Asia. Worldwide, about nine species of Paragonimus are known to cause human paragonimiasis in which many of the species reside in East Asia, West Africa, and in North and South America.
context_section_description: Species of Paragonimus vary in size; the adult stage might attain a length of up to 15 millimetres (0.59 in) and a width of up to 8 mm (0.31 in). The adult flatworm has an oval shape body with spines covering its thick tegument. Both the oral sucker and acetabulum are round and muscular. The acetabulum is slightly bigger than the oral sucker – 0.19 mm and 0.12 mm, respectively. Ovaries are located behind the acetabulum and posterior to the ovary are the testes. The seminal receptacle, the uterus and its metraterm, the thick-walled terminal part, lie between the acetabulum and the ovary.
caption: Morphology of typical Paragonimus: 
   AC: acetabulum (ventral sucker)
    CE: cecum, EB: excretory bladder
    OS: oral sucker, OV: ovary
   TE: testes, UT: uterus
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