List of parasitic organisms
This is an incomplete list of organisms that are true parasites upon other organisms. For more information on this topic, see main article: Parasitism. For information on parasitoids, see main article: Parasitoid.
Endoparasites
(endo = within; parasites that live inside their hosts)
Plants
These can be categorized into three groups; cestodes, nematodes and trematodes. Examples include:
Fungi
Ectoparasites
(ecto = outside; parasites that live on but not within their hosts, for example, attached to their skin)
Arthropoda
Annelids
Vertebrates
- Candiru (Vampire fish of Brazil, really a facultative parasite)
- Lampreys
- Humans- Humans in certain cultures have adapted behaviors that could be defined as parasitic. The Maasai people of Africa make the blood of cattle a part of their diet. The Maasai drain blood from the carotid artery of the cow, and collect it for use in cooking as a source of protein. The cow is kept alive before, during, and after the process, meaning that the blood harvesting could be seen as a parasitic behavior.
- Oxpeckers- Although oxpeckers mainly eat other parasites that feed on large mammals, oxpeckers have been observed to open new wounds and enhance existing ones in order to drink the blood of their perches. Oxpeckers also feed on the earwax and dandruffs of mammals, although less is known about the benefits of this to the mammal, it is suspected that this is also a parasitic behaviour. Some oxpecker hosts are intolerant of their presence. Elephants and some antelope will actively dislodge, the oxpeckers when they land.
- Vampire bat
- Vampire Finch