Ascaridia		Contents		Rev 10/25/2025
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ascaridia menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Ascarididae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Class:    Chromadorea

Subclass: Chromadoria

Order:   Rhabditida 

           Suborder: Spirurina

Superfamily: Ascaridoidea

Family:  Ascarididae

                          Ascaridia Dujardin, 1845

Type species of the genus:

Synonyms:

Back to Top

Morphology and Anatomy:

Nematodes with general characteristics of Ascarididae.

 Back to Top

Distribution:

Worldwide; intestinal parasites of birds.

Back to Top

Economic Importance:

Ascaridia galli is an important intestinal parasites of chickens

Ascaridia dissimilis is an intestinal parasite of turheys

Ascaridia columbae is an intestinal parasite of pigeons.

Other species include parasites of parrots

Back to Top

Hosts:

Chickens, turkeys, pigeons

Back to Top

Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Ascaridia

Parasites of the intestine.

Back to Top

Life Cycle

Life cycle is drirct, no intermediate hosts,

Back to Top

Damage:

Symptoms of heavy infection in caged biirds include anorexia, diarrhea, stunted growth, listlessness, changes in behavior, and enteritis. Heavy infections can cause a partial or total obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.

Laying hens may produce soft eggs with thin and misshapened shells.

Clinical signs are more common in young chickens less than three months old, as older chicken develop some resistance to infection. Infection may be diagnosed on clinical signs and fecal examination (McMullin, 2004).

Back to Top

Management:

Back to Top

References:

Cruthers, L.R., Reinemeyer, C.R., Yazwinski, T.A., Marchiondo, A.A. 2020. Nematoda, Ascaridida. Chapter 2 in Marchiondo, Cruthers and Fourie (eds) Parasiticide Screening Vol 2. Academic Press

McMullin, P. 2004. A Pocket Guide to: Poultry Health and Disease. 5M Enterprises Ltd., Sheffield, UK.

Back to Top

Return to Ascarididae Menu

Want more information about nematodes? Go to Nemaplex Main Menu.