ABSTRACT
The classic definition of a parasite, established by Crofton in 1971 (Crofton, 1971), consists of the following:
A parasitic relationship is an ecological relationship between two different organisms/species, one designated the parasite, the other the host.
The parasite is physiologically or metabolically dependent upon its host.
Heavily infected hosts may be killed by their parasites or harm will be done to the host.
The reproductive potential of the parasites exceeds that of their hosts.
There is an overdispersed frequency distribution of parasites within the host population. In other words, the parasite population is not evenly or randomly distributed among the host population; it is clumped, such that some hosts have a lot of parasites and most have very few.
