gregarine

gregarine, any protozoan of the sporozoan class Gregarinidea (or Gregarinea). Gregarines occur as parasites in the body cavities and the digestive systems of invertebrates. Representative genera are Monocystis in earthworms and Gregarina in locusts and cockroaches. Long and wormlike, gregarines may reach a length of 10 mm (0.4 inch). They often develop in host cells, from which they emerge to reproduce in some body cavity. Feeding by osmosis, some forms attach themselves to a body cavity lining by an anterior hook (epimerite), while others move freely. The class Gregarinidea may be divided into three orders on the basis of the type of life cycle. In the order Schizogregarinida, sometimes called Archigregarinida, a form of asexual reproduction called merogony (nuclear division followed by cytoplasmic division) precedes sexual union and spore formation; in the order Eugregarinida merogony is absent; and in the order Neogregarinida merogony occurs in the asexual phase, and each gametocyte produces one spore. The Neogregarinida are sometimes classified with the Schizogregarinida.