- capitulum:
- the region of the mouthparts in a tick.
- carapace:
- a dorsal shield.
- caudal:
- pertaining to the tail or posterior region.
- cecum:
- a blind-ending pouch leading off of an intestine.
- cement gland:
- glands in male Acanthocephala whose secretions form a copulatory plug on
the female.
- cement reservoir:
- receptacle for secretions of the acanthocephalan cement gland.
- cephalic:
- pertaining to the head or anterior end.
- cephalothorax:
- a body region formed by fusion of the head and thorax.
- cercaria:
- a free-living larval stage of Digenea, usually possessing a tail.
- cercomer:
- a vestigial structure formed on larval Cestoda, containing the embryonic
hooks.
- cervical:
- pertaining to the head or anterior end.
- chalimus:
- a late copepodid stage of some parasitic Copepoda, that possesses a
filament used for anchoring.
- chelicera:
- the piercing mouthparts of Arachnida.
- chemotaxis:
- directed movement with respect to a chemical gradient.
- chitin:
- a tough, high molecular weight polymer used in construction of body parts
of some invertebrates.
- cilium:
- motile, short, cylindrical organelle containing a longitudinal bundle of
microtubules and surrounded by a plasma membrane; usually present in large
numbers.
- cirrus:
- the copulatory organ of Platyhelminthes.
- cirrus pouch:
- an internal sac surrounding the terminal male genitalia of Platyhelminthes.
- clamp:
- a complex set of sclerotized bars forming a pinching organ.
- cloaca:
- an internal chamber containing the outlets of the digestive and urogenital
systems.
- coccidia:
- general term applied to apicomplexan parasites which transmit by oocysts
passed in the feces.
- coenurus:
- a bladder larva of Cestoda from which several scoleces bud from the
internal germinative epithelium.
- Colorado tick fever:
- a viral disease causing fever and muscle pains.
- compact vitellarium:
- vitelline glands coalesced into a single mass.
- copepodid:
- a larval stage of Copepoda, between nauplius and adult.
- copulatory bursa:
- an external male copulatory appendage, used to grip the female during
mating.
- coracidium:
- a cestode oncosphere enclosed within a ciliated membrane and capable of
swimming.
- cosmopolitan:
- a more-or-less worldwide geographic distribution.
- craspedote:
- a cestode proglottid that partially overlaps the one posterior to it.
- cryptozoite:
- a schizont of Plasmodium spp. that develops outside of the circulatory
system.
- cuticle:
- the non-living body covering of Nematoda and Arthropoda.
- cyst:
- general term for a membranous envelope of parasite origin, usually
enclosing a larval parasite. Also, the parasite-envelope combination.
- cystacanth:
- the larval stage of Acanthocephala that precedes the adult; it is usually
encysted.
- cysticercoid:
- a solid-bodied larva of Cestoda.
- cysticercus:
- a bladder larva of cestoda from which a single scolex buds internally.
- cystogenous gland:
- gland producing secretions which form a cyst around a parasite.
- cytokinesis:
- the separation of a single cell into two or more.
- cytoplasm:
- the internal contents of a cell excluding the nucleus.