Revised 10/30/26
Phylum Nematoda
Class Chromadorea
Subclass Chromadoria
Order Rhabditida
Physalopteridae (Railliet, 1893) Leiper, 1908
A family of nematode parasites of fish, lizards and snakes with insects as intermediate hosts.
Head cuticle reflexed to form a cephslic collar
Mouth with 2 lateral lips, each with a median conical tooth and a small subdorsal and subventral tooth
Esophagus with smaller mucular anterior and a large glandular posterior.
Ref: Ogden, 1969.
Three subfamilies:
Physalopterinae Railliet, 1893
Proleptinae Schultz, 1927
Thubunaeinae (Sobolaev, 1949) Chabaud, 1975
Nematodes of the family Physalopteridae) are widespread as adults or as encysted larvae in many species of reptiles. Fifteen species of physalopterine nematodes (subfamily Physalopterinae) in the genera Kreisiella, Abbreviata and Skrjabinoptera infect more than 40 Australian reptile species in the five families Agamidae, Varanidae, Gekkonidae, Scincidae and Elapidae.
Of the Australian nematode-reptile interactions, four species of nematode are host-species specific, six are host-family specific to varanid lizards, and three to agamid lizards. Larger species of reptile support a higher prevalence and abundance of nematodes, and often support multiple infections with more than one species, with the potential for interspecific competition. These nematodes are the predominant gastrointestinal nematode parasites of Australian reptiles.
Geographic distribution of nematodes is partially limited by host distribution, and by climatic factors, mainly precipitation and temperature (Jones, 2014)
Bursey, C,R. and Brooks, D.R. 2011. Nematode parasites of Costa Rican snakes (Serpentes) with description of a new species of Abbreviata (Physalopteridae). Comparative Parasitology 78:333–358.
Jones, H.L. 2014. Physalopterine nematodes in Australian reptiles: interactions and patterns of infection. Australian Journal of Zoology, 62:180-194.
Ogden, C.G. 1969. A revision of the genus Heliconema Travassos, 1919, Physalopteridae (Nematoda). Journal of Natural History, 3:423-431.
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