Laurer's canal is a part of the reproductive system of trematodes, analogous to the vagina. Trematodes are a class of worm-like parasites divided into two subclasses, Aspidogastrea and Digenea. In Digeneans, Laurer's canal opens from the dorsal surface of the body. In some Aspidogastreans, the canal ends in a blind ended sac. Laurer's canal may be used by the flukes during copulation, but more normally sperm enters the female system via the common genital atrium, (into which the uterus opens), either during copulation, or self-fertilisation.
References
- Peoples, Robert C.; Fried, Bernard (2014). "Form and function in the Digenea". In Toledo, Rafael; Fried, Bernard (eds.). Digenetic Trematodes. Springer. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-4939-0915-5.
- Littlewood, D. Timothy J.; Telford, Maximillian J.; Bray, Rodney A. (2004). "Protostomes and platyhelmintes: The worm's turn". In Cracraft, Joel; Donoghue, Michael J. (eds.). Assembling the Tree of Life. Oxford University Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780199729609.
- Rohde, K. (2002). "Subclass Aspidogastrea Faust & Tang, 1936". In Gibson, David Ian; Jones, Arlene; Bray, Rodney Alan (eds.). Keys to the Trematoda. CABI Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 9780851995472.
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