Nematodirus spathiger		Contents		Rev 10/20/2025
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Nematodirus menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Molineidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

 Classification

Phylum:  Nematoda
Class:    Chromadorea
Order:    Rhabditida 

Superfamily:  Molinieoidea

Family:  Molineidae

Subfamily: Nematodirinae

Nematodirus spathiger (Railliet, 1896) Railliet & Henry, 1909

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Slender,

• Cuticle with about 18 longitudinal striations.

• Mouth opening circular with a serrated, denticulate, circularized crown and a triangular dorsal tooth

Males:

• Bursa relatively small, dorsal lobe setoff from lateral lobes by indentations
• Length 10-19 mm, 180-200 um wide
• Spicules 700-1100 um long with spoon-shaped terminus
• No gubernaculum

Females:

• 19-29 mm long, 460 um wide
• Tail obtuse
• Eggs large 91-107 x 181-200 um

Ref Snyder et al., 2020

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Distribution:

Worldwide parasite of sheep, goats, sometimes cattle

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Economic Importance:

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Hosts:

Sheep, goats and cattle. Also, dromedary camels, alpaca, llama and wild ruminants and, perhasps, rabbits and some rodents (Snyder et al., 2020).

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Feeding:

Parasite of the small intestine.

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Life Cycle:

A simple, direct life-cycle without the need for an intermediate host.  Infective third-stage larvae develop within the egg,  Nematodirus spathiger does not have the chilling temperature hatching requirement of N. battus. Hence, hatching is not seasonally synchronized and occurs year round under favorable conditions. More than one generation occurs per year (Snyder et al., 2020).

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Damage:

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Management:

Anthelminthics

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References:

Snyder, D.E., Marchiondo, A.A. Cruthers, L.R. 2020. Nematoda, Trichostrongyloidea. Chapter 2 in Marchiondo, Cruthers and Fourie (eds) Parasiticide Screening Vol 2. Academic Press

Van Dijk, J. and Morgan, E.R. 2008. The influence of temperature on the development, hatching and survival of Nematodirus battus larvae. Parasitology 135:269-283.

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