Polymorphus
| Polymorphus | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Polymorphus | ||||||||||||
| Luehe , 1911 |
Polymorphus is a genus of the scratch worms (Acanthocephala), which lives as an intestinal parasite mainly in wild and domesticated water birds such as swans , ducks and geese and, more rarely, in mammals.
features
The trunk of the adult worms is divided into two areas by a shallow constriction. The proboscis ( proboscis ) is uniform to cylindrical and, depending on the species, has 12 to 22 rows of hooks of 6 to 12 individual hooks each. These enlarge towards the middle of the trunk and are relatively small both at the base of the trunk and at the tip of the trunk.
The eggs are spindle-shaped with indentations typical of the species in the middle layer of the concentric egg envelope.
Way of life
The adult animals of the genus Polymorphus live as intestinal parasites mainly in the small intestine of wild and domesticated water birds such as swans , ducks and geese , some species also in aquatic mammals. Water isopods ( Asellus aquaticus ) and amphipods are particularly suitable as intermediate hosts .
species
Within the genus, around 35 species are distinguished and divided into two sub-genera. One of the best-known species is Polymorphus minutus , a common parasite that causes acanthocephalosis in poultry .
Individual evidence
literature
- Theodor Hiepe, Renate Buchwalder, Siegfried Nickel: Textbook of Parasitology. Volume 3: Veterinary Helminthology. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1985; Pages 398-399