Hepatocystis

A genus of blood-parasitizing hemosporines (family Plasmodiidae) with gametocytes in red blood 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 Hepatocystis kochi, a common parasite of African baboons and other monkeys, is transmitted by the biting midge, Culicoides.

[hepato- + G. kystis, bladder]