In Praise of Parasites

For some they are the stuff of nightmares, but these incredible creatures are strange and fascinating aspects of life on the reef.

- Dr Richard Smith

For most people, parasites are the lowest of the low in the animal kingdom: They’re creepy-crawlies that spread disease and exploit other creatures. This is probably why calling someone a parasite is so downright derogatory. In fact, the term “parasite” was first used in ancient Greece to mean a hanger-on and was later adopted as a biological term. A parasite lives in or on another living organism, but usually without killing it, and gets its food from or at the expense of its host. Humans are the victims of a huge variety of parasites, from liver flukes to intestinal worms, dengue and malaria, the latter obviously being one of the world’s biggest killers.