Term now used instead of herpetomonad for the stage of development of certain insect- and plant-parasitizing flagellates to avoid confusion between the stage and the genus Herpetomonas. In this stage the flagellum arises from the kinetoplast located behind the nucleus and emerges from the anterior end of the organism; an undulating membrane is absent. [opistho- + G. mastix, whip]
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opis·tho·mas·ti·gote (o″pis-tho-masґtĭ-gōt) [opistho- + Gr. mastix whip] a morphologic stage in the life cycle of certain trypanosomatid protozoa in which the kinetoplast and basal body are posterior to the nucleus, the flagellum runs through the body of the cell to emerge anteriorly as a free-flowing structure, and an undulating membrane is absent. Cf. amastigote, choanomastigote, epimastigote, promastigote, and trypomastigote.Medical dictionary. 2011.