Question

What is parasitic nutrition? Briefly explain with two examples in animals.

Answer 1

Nutrition:

• Nutrition is defined as the life process of using sources from the outside to generate energy inside the body. It is broadly divided into two categories.
• There are two major types of nutrition autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition.
• Organisms following the autotrophic mode of nutrition can synthesize food for themselves using inorganic compounds and solar energy.
• In heterotrophic nutrition, living beings depend on other organisms to fulfilling their nutritional requirements.
• Parasitic nutrition is one example of heterotrophic nutrition.

1. Parasitic nutrition

• In this type of heterotrophic nutrition, organisms fulfill their nutritional demands by living inside or outside the other living organisms.
• Organisms with such this mode of nutrition cause harm to their host organism.

Examples:

• Leech lives on the surface of other animals and sucks their blood to obtain nutrition. Due to excess blood withdrawal, the host organism becomes weak and may die.
• Tapeworms living in the human intestine absorb nutrients from the intestine. In return, tapeworm blocks the lumen of the host, which leads to complications.