Acanthocheilonema

Acanthocheilonema	Contents	Rev 10/14/2025
	Classification	Hosts
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Acanthocheilonema Menu	Economic Importance	Damage
	Distribution	Management
Return to Onchocercidae Menu	Feeding	References
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Classification:

Nematoda; Chromadorea
Spiruria; Spirurida
Filarioidea: Oncho cercidae

Acanthocheilonema Cobbold, 1870

Type species of the genus: Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides Cobbold, 1870

Morphology and Anatomy:

Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Acanthocheilonema

Often located in subcutaneous tissues of definitive hosts.

Biology and Epidemiology

Hosts:

A wideange of mammalian hosts, including memberrs of Carnivora, Macroscelidea, Rodentia. Pholidota, Edentata and Marsupiala. Some secies have wide host raanges.

In filarial nematodes, two hosts are required to complete the life cycle, an intermediate host (often an arthropd) and a primary or definitive host (usually a vertebrate). The juvenile stages occur in the intermediate host and the reproductive adult in the definitive (primary) host. Juvenile stages (microfilariae) are adapted to the anatomical and behavioral characteristics of intermediate and definitive hosts. So, morphometrics of microfilariae of different filarial species may be selected by the morphometrics of the organ and circulatory systems of particular hematophagus arthropod intermediate hosts, for exmaple mites, ticks or mosquitos. Cat fleas, chewing lice and ticks are reported as intermediate hosts of some Acanthocheilonema spp.

Female nematodes of Acanthocheilonema spp. release microfilariae directly into the bloodstream of the definitive hosts from where they are ingested by hematophagus intermediate hosts. Microfilariae develop to the infective L3 stage in about 2 weeks after ingestion,. When transmitted into te definitive hsost, they develop to adults in 2 to3 months. The prepatent period, when signs of infection become apparent as microfilariae in the bloodstream, may be around 2 months (Dzimianski et al., 2020).

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this genus, click