Many different kinds of animals have adopted a parasitic life style on the skin and gills of marine and freshwater fishes, including protozoans, flatworms, leeches, a range of crustaceans and even some vertebrates (lampreys). There is a parasitic barnacle, described first in the 19th century by Charles Darwin, fish lice that change sex and bivalve molluscs parasitic only when young. This book explores for the first time in one volume, the remarkable biology of these little known and frequently bizarre animals.

The following closely interwoven themes are considered for each...

This book differs from most parasitology texts in concentrating in detail on one group- the symbiotic platyhelminths. As the majority of these symbiotes are parasitic, the author presents a detailed explanation of the nature of such associations. The book adopts an organismal systematic approach setting the biology of parasitic platyhelminthes in an evolutionary context. Factual material is supplemented by excellent illustrations and references. This text will be of wide appeal to parasitologists, evolutionary biologists and zoologists interested in animal associations.

Many different kinds of animals have adopted a parasitic life style on the skin and gills of marine and freshwater fishes, including protozoans, flatworms, leeches, a range of crustaceans and even some vertebrates (lampreys). There is a parasitic barnacle, described first in the 19th century by Charles Darwin, fish lice that change sex and bivalve molluscs parasitic only when young. This book explores for the first time in one volume, the remarkable biology of these little known and frequently bizarre animals.

The following closely interwoven themes are considered for each...