Parelaphostrongylus		Contents		Rev 05/20/2025
Brainworm		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Parelaphostrongylus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Protostrongylidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Strongyloidea

        Protostrongylidae

Elaphostrongylinae

Type species of the genus: Parelaphostrongylus odocoilei (Hofmaier & Hofmaier, 1934) Boev & Schulz, 1950

Synonyms:

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Morphology and Anatomy:

General features:

• Bifid dorsal ray in the male bursa,
• Complex gubernaculum with a corpus separated into two cords
• Presence of crurae
• The genus has the meningeal worm (P. tenuis) and two muscle worms (P. odocoilei and P. andersoni)

Ref: Carreno and Lankester, 1994

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Distribution:

Parasites of ungulates

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Parelaphostrongylus

 Parasite of the central nervous system: brain worm or meningeal worm.

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Boev, S.N. andSchulz, R.S. 1950.  Reconstruction of the systematics of the nematode family Protostrongylidae Leiper, 1926. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR, 70, 355-358. (In Russian).

Carreno, R.A. and Lanketster, M.W. 1994. A re-evaluation of the phylogeny of Parelaphostrongylus Boev & Schulz, 1950 (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae) Systematic Parasitology 28:145-151

Dougherty, E.C., Goble, F.C.  1946. The Genus Protostrongylus Kamenskii, 1905 (Nematoda: Metastrongylidae), and Its Relatives: Preliminary Note. J. Parasitol. 32:7-16.

Garwood, T.J., Richards, J.E., Machietto, M.G., Gerrhold, R.W., Karia, S.A. et al. 2024. A de novo whole genome assembly and annotation of Parelaphostrongylus tenuis. J. Nematology 56: DOI: 10.2478/jofnem-2024-0009

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: May 20, 2025.

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