Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
cri·thid·ia Pronunciation:
kr&-'thid-E-& Function:
noun 1 capitalized : a genus of flagellates of thefamily Trypanosomatidae that are exclusively parasites of invertebrates especially in the digestive tract of insects and that occur typically as elongated forms morphologically like trypanosomes butpass through developmental stages all in a single host in which they are indistinguishable from typical leptomonads and leishmanias
2 a : any flagellate of the genus
Crithidia b : any flagellate of the family Trypanosomatidae when exhibiting a typical form of a crithidia
