Definition of "cercaria" [cer•ca•ri•a]

• The parasitic larva of a trematode worm, having a tail that disappears in the adult stage. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Inside the snail, the parasite passes through several generations before producing a missile-shaped stage called a cercaria."
• "The infective form of schistosoma, called a cercaria, secretes proteases upon detection of human skin lipids (McKerrow & Salter, 2002)."
• "A fluke, for example, hatches into a delicate form covered with hairlike cilia that swim in search of a snail; a couple of generations later, a cercaria emerges from the snail to find its mammal host."