This is a textbook covering concepts in animal parasitology. It is meant to be used by students, teachers, professors, researchers, and members of the public who are interested in learning about animal parasite biology, systematics, taxonomy, zoogeography, and ecology. The primary intended audience is upper-level undergraduate or graduate university students who have knowledge of basic biology and, particularly, basic animal biology. (863 pages, illustrated) One of the most fascinating things that a person can experience in the complex realm of biology is the discovery of an animal living inside another animal. If this discovery takes place at an early enough stage in the development of a young person’s view of the world, that is, before the rules and regulations of what of society thinks, and before what is good and what is bad are perfused into a learner’s mind, the first discovery of living-motile trematode worms living inside the lungs of a frog or of tapeworms inhabiting the gut of a rodent can be exhilarating and a positively unforgettable experience. The questions that arise when these kinds of animals are encountered for the first time are innumerable and, if answered carefully and perhaps fully, may lead to more and more questions, and hopefully, more and more answers. Contents: Preface Part I: INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS 1: Introduction to Animal Parasitology. 2: Phylogenetic Systematics in Parasitology. 3: Helminth Identification and Diagnostics: Basic Molecular Techniques. • Parasites in Relation to Other Organisms 4: Hosts, Reservoirs, and Vectors. 5: Life Cycles. 6: Behavioral Parasitology. • Parascript Approaches 7: Biostatistics for Parasitologists: A Painless Introduction. 8: Distributional Ecology of Parasites Part II: PROTOZOA, MYXOZOA, MESOZOA Apicomplexa — 9: The Coccidia Proper: Important Apicomplexa Other than Haemoprotozoa. 10: Haemosporida (Order): The “Malaria Parasites” Trypanosomatidae — 11: Trypanosoma (Genus). 12: Leishmania (Genus) and Leishmaniasis. Myxozoa — 13: Myxozoa (Subphylum). Mesozoa — 14: Mesozoa (Phylum Dicyemida and Phylum Orthonecta). Part III: ENDOPARASITIC PLATYHELMINTHS Platyhelminthes — 15: Introduction to Endoparasitic Platyhelminths (Phylum Platyhelminthes). Cestoda: 16: Introduction to Cestodes (Class Cestoda). • Eucestoda — 17: Introduction to Cyclophyllidea Beneden in Braun, 1900 (Order). 18: Taenia (Genus). 19: Echinococcus (Genus). 20: Proteocephalidae La Rue, 1911 (Family). 21: Bothriocephalidea Kuchta et al., 2008 (Order). 22: Diphyllobothriidea Kuchta et al., 2008 (Order): The Broad Tapeworms. 23: Trypanorhyncha Diesing, 1863 (Order). 24: Cathetocephalidea Schmidt and Beveridge, 1990 (Order). 25: Diphyllidea van Beneden in Carus, 1863 (Order). 26: Lecanicephalidea Hyman, 1951 (Order). 27: Litobothriidea Dailey, 1969