What is Monogenea?
[[File:Echinoplectanum laeve body.jpg|thumb|A Monogenea]] '''Monogenea''' are a type of [[flatworm]]. They are [[parasites]] which means that they always need another creature to live on. They live on the outside of their [[Presenter|host]]. Some parasites, like [[tapeworm]]s, live on the inside of a larger creature. == Ecology and life cycle == Monogenea are especially common on the skin, fins and [[gills]] of [[fish]]. Less commonly, they can be found in the [[urinary bladder]] and [[rectum]] of [[cold-blooded]] [[vertebrate]]s. No types of Monogenea infect [[birds]], but one (''[[Oculotrema hippopotami]]'') infects [[mammal]]s. It is a parasite in the eye of a [[hippopotamus]]. Monogenea are usually [[hermaphrodite]]s. This means that they have both sexes. First they are males, and only later do they become females as well. They have [[Parasitic life cycle|direct life-cycles]] with no asexual reproduction (unlike the [[Digenea]]). In those types of Monogenea that lay eggs, the young ones grow to a [[larva]]l stage called an ''oncomiracidium''. It is at the ''larva'' stage that they are able to travel from one host creature to another. When they are adults, Monogenea eat the [[blood]], [[mucus]], and [[epithelial]] cells of their host creature. {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Flatworms]] [[Category:Parasites]]