Hepatocystis

A genus of blood-parasitizing hemosporines (family Plasmodiidae) with gametocytes in red cells and cystlike exoerythrocytic schizonts in the liver parenchyma; parasitic in Old World primates, bats, and squirrels, but not in domestic animals or in the western hemisphere. The species H. kochi, a common parasite of African baboons and other monkeys, is transmitted by the biting midge, Culicoides. [hepato- + G. kystis, bladder]

* * *

Hep·a·to·cys·tis (hep″ə-to-sisґtis) [hepato- + cyst] a genus of coccidian protozoa (suborder Haemosporina, subclass Sporozoea) comprising parasites of Old World lower monkeys, fruit bats, and squirrels, in which merogony takes place in the hepatocytes, resulting in large glistening schizonts (merocysts) on the surface of the liver, from which merozoites are released to invade erythrocytes and develop into gametocytes.