noun
- Plural of procercoid; larval stages of certain tapeworms that develop in small crustacean hosts before infecting fish or other vertebrates.
Usage: biology; parasitology; technical
Examples
- The procercoids develop inside copepods, which serve as the primary intermediate hosts.
- Fish become infected when they consume water containing procercoids.
- Researchers studied the procercoids under a microscope to understand tapeworm life cycles.
- The procercoids eventually mature into plerocercoids in the secondary host.
- Contaminated freshwater can harbor procercoids of various tapeworm species.