Placentonema		Contents		Rev: 01/20/2025
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Placentonema Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Tetrameridae Menu		Feeding		References
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Classification:

Chromadorea

  Chromadoria

   Rhabditida

Spirurina

              Habronematoidea

               Tetrameridae

  Crassicaudinae

Placentonema Gubanov, 1951

Type species of the genus: Placentonema gigantissima Gubanov, 1951

Parasite of the placenta of sperm whales

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Very large nematodes; females >8 meter length

The genus differs from Crassicauda in the type (and only) species having caudal alae with stub-like papillae in the male and,  in the female, with multiple branchung of the reproductive tract into 32 uteri.

Placentonema gigantissima - original description from Gubanov, 1951 Source Wikipedia, accessed January 19, 2025	Placentonema gigantissima - Gubanov, 1951 paper translated to English Source Wikipedia, accessed January 19, 2025

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Distribution:

Sperm whale (Physeter carodon) )hosts in the lower latitudes of the southern hemisphere.

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Feeding:

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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:

Delyamure, S.L. 1955. DHelminthofauna of marine mammals (Ecology and Phylogeny). Gel'mintologicheskaya Laboratoria, Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Moskva. English translation: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 1968 pp 520.

Gubanov, N.M.  A giant nematode from the placenta of cetaceans; Placenttnema gigantissima n.g. n.sp. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. 77(6): 1123-1125.

Hermosilla, C., Hirzmann, J.; Silva, L. M.R.; Brotons, J M.; Cerda, M.; Prenger-Berninghoff, E.; Ewers, C.; Taubert, A. 2018.  Occurrence of anthropozoonotic parasitic infections and faecal microbes in free-ranging sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) from the Mediterranean Sea. Parasitology Research 117: 2531-2541. doi:10.1007/s00436-018-5942-3

Copyright 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: January 20, 2025.