Digenea

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Digenea(flukes; phylum Platyhelminthes) A class, or in some classifications an order of the class Trematoda, of parasitic worms all of which have a gut and an anterior (oral) sucker. Most have an intestine, a pharynx, and a ventral sucker. Mature individuals lack cilia. In contrast to Monogenea, Digenea have two to four hosts. The initial hosts are certain molluscs; the fluke then leaves and develops in a vertebrate host. All flukes are endoparasitic (see PARASITISM).

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