Oesophagostomum columbiana

Nodular Worm

Contents

Rev 07/20/2026

  Classification Biology and Ecology
Morphology and Anatomy Life Cycle
Return to Oesophagostomum menu Ecosystem Functions and Services
Distribution Management
Return to Chabertiidae Menu Feeding  References
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 Classification

Phylum:  Nematoda
Class:    Chromadorea
Order:    Rhabditida 

Superfamily:  Strongyloidea

Family:  Chabertiidae

Subfamily Oesophagostominae

 

Oesophagostomum columbiana (Curtice, 1890) Stossich, 1899

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Females:

  • 14-18 mm long and 300-500 um wide with a 300-600 um long tapering tail
  • Vulva  quite posterior, 750-800 um anterior to the anus
  • Eggs 80 x 50 um

Ref: Marchiondo et al., 2020

Males:

  • 12-16 mm long and 230-400 um wide
  • Spicules 750-850 um long
  • Gubernaculum 100 um long, shovel-shaped with a telamon supporting structure near the cloacal aperture.
 
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:


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Distribution:

Distributed predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

 

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Economic Importance:

Important gastrointestinal parasites of ruminants.

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Hosts:

Sheep and goats

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Feeding:


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Life Cycle:

Lifecycle is direct, no intermediate host. Eggs are deposited in feces. The L1 is probably microbivorous in the feces and molts to the L2  and then to the infective L3. Infective L3 are present in pasture when moisture is present. The infective larvae are ingested by grazing animals and enter the mucosa of the large intestine where they become encapsulated in nodules. They molt to L4 and enter an arrested (histotrophic phase) for 34 months. The L4 emerge from the nodules on to the surface of the mucosa and molt to the adult stage when they mate and produce eggs. The prepatent period is 35-39 days  (Marchiondo et al, 2020).


For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click
If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters
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Damage:

Oesophagostomum columbianum is a primary causal agent of nodular enteritis, responsible for decrease productivity in sheep and goats around the world, Mature worms inhabit the mucosa of the digestive tract and suck blood. That leads to pernicious anemia and significant weight loss of the host animal.

Penetration of the mucosa of the intestine by larvae can cause severe diarrhea with black-green feces containing mucus and blood (Nath et al., 2021).

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Management:

Topical and injected formulations of some anthelminthics are effective in cattle (Rehbein et al., 2022).


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References:

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

Nath, T.C., Lee, D., Park, H., Choe, S., Ndosi, B.A. et al. 2021. Morphometrical and Molecular Characterization of Oesophagostomum columbianum (Chabertiidae: Oesophagostominae) and Haemonchus contortus (Trichostrongylidae: Haemonchinae) Isolated from Goat (Capra hircus) in Sylhet, Bangladesh. J. Parasitology Research 2021, Article ID 8863283 https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8863283

Rehbein S., Hamel, D., Yoon, S., Johnson, C. 2022. Efficacy of eprinomectin topical solution and eprinomectin extended-release injection treatments against developing larval and adult Chabertia ovina and Oesophagostomum venulosum - two less common cattle nematode parasites. Veterinary Parasitology 312: 109837 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2022.109837

 

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