Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Nematomorpha
Nematomorphanĕm′ətəmôr'fə, small (about 230 species) phylum of pseudocoelomates; the horsehair worms . Most are very slender, elongated creatures found in ponds and streams, whose larvae live as parasites in arthropods. They emerge as adults for a brief time, then mate and die. A small number are planktonic in marine habitats and live as larvae in crabs or shrimps. Adults are simplified externally and internally; they have no excretory or circulatory systems and only a vestigial digestive tract. The female produces long strings of eggs. After hatching, the larva penetrates any convenient aquatic animal, but its development stops until it has found its way into an appropriate host, typically an insect. The adult nematomorph emerges when the host is in or near water; it molts once after emerging and takes up its brief adult existence.
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Wikipedia search results for: Nematomorpha
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Nematomorpha are a phylum of parasitic animals that are morphologically and ecologically similar to nematode worms, hence the name. They range in size from 1 cm to 1 meter long, and 1 to 3 millimetres in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas such as watering troughs, streams, puddles, and cisterns. The adult worms are free living, but the larvae are parasitic on beetles, cockroaches, Orthoptera and crustaceans . About 326 species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 species worldwide. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorpha...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Nematomorpha
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- pseudocoelomate
Pseudocoelomate, any of a group of invertebrates with a three-layered body that has a fluid-filled body cavity (pseudocoelom) between the endoderm and the mesoderm (the innermost and middle ti...
- worm
Worm, common name for various unrelated invertebrate animals with soft, often long and slender bodies. Members of the phylum Platyhelminthes, or the flatworms, are the most primitive; they are...
