intermediate hosts
Parasite transfer organisms
An intermediate host is an organism that harbors a parasite during a developmental stage but not its adult or sexually reproductive phase.
The parasite typically must pass through one or more intermediate hosts before reaching its definitive host, where it matures and reproduces.
Snails serve as intermediate hosts for many flatworms; humans are intermediate hosts for some tapeworms.
The term appears primarily in parasitology and epidemiology.
- molluskSoft-bodied invertebrate, often shelled
- larvaImmature feeding stage
- freshwater snailMollusk in rivers, ponds
- copepodMinute planktonic crustacean
- cystFluid-filled tissue sac
parasite · crustacean · parasitic worm · snail · insect · fish · amphibian · vector · zoonosis · predation · lifecycle · tick · transmission · reservoir · carrier · worm · migration · tissue