Rev 12/09/2024
Dioctophyme renale Goeze, 1782
The name of the genus was variously spelled as Dioctophyme or Dioctophyma for 200 years until the International Commissioon on Zoological Nomenclature determined the correct spelling as Dioctophyme in 1989. However, both spelling versions appear in the literature.
Males:
Female:
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:
Neartic, Neotropical : Asia, Europe, North America, Brazil, Peru, Australia.
Occurs in temperate forest and grassland, tropical rainforest, freshwater lake, freshwater rivers
Hosts: Common parasite in minks, domestic dogs, wild mammals of North America, Europe, and Asia.
Although human infections are rare, the giant red kidney worm is the largest nematode parasite known to infect them, adult females can reach over one meter in length.
The genus has been spelled as both Dioctophyma and Dioctophyme. Diocophyme is the preferred version by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
Humans may be infected by consumption of molluscs that are infected with Dioctophyme renale.
While the most common host is mink, intermediate and definitive hosts may include: annelids, freshwater molluscs, crustaceans, fishes, frogs, mink, domestic dogs, man, and grisons.
In the definitive host it feeds in the kidney, usually the right kidney of its definitive hosts.
Eggs of Dioctophyme renale develop in an aquatic (freshwater) environment and hatch into an aquatic larval stage that uses an oligochaete annelid as an intermediate host. In the annelid, it develops into a third larval stage.
Once it has developed into its third stage, it seeks either freshwater molluscs, crustaceans, fishes, or frogs, as a second intermediate host.
The secondary intermediate host is then consumed by a carnivore which becomes the definitive host.
The most common definitive host is the mink and the process is repeated when infected mink urine containing the worm eggs is transmitted into an aquatic environment. Other carnivorous mammal definitive hosts include domestic dogs and cats, wolf, jackal, coyoote, fox, martem, pole-cat, coati and harbor seal. Records in non-carnivorus mammals are rare.
Ecophysiological Parameters:
Barros, D. 1990. "Dioctophymosis in the little grison". Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 538-539.
Measures, L. 1985. "Centrarchid fish as paratenic hosts of the giant kidney worm, Dioctophyma renale". Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 11-19. Editor: Parker, Sybil P. "Nemata" . Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. 1982 McGraw Hill Inc. 879-890.
Key to Parasitic Nematodes 1991