Family Ascarididae

                                 Revised 01/11/26

Classification:

Phylum Nematoda

Ascarididae Blanchard, 1896

• A family of intestinal parasites of terrestrial vertebrates, including humans and their domestic animals..

• Relatively large nematodes with lips which maybe simple or distinctly subdivided on the internal surface,
• Anterior prolongations of labial papillae comprise a median internal unpaired lobe and two external lobes; dorsal and subventral labial papillae double, lateral papillae single.
• Cervical alae salient or not salient.
• Excretory cell with or without anterior prolongations.
• Esophageal gland nuclei in posterior part of esophagus, dorsal nucleus larger than subventral nuclei; duct of dorsal esophageal gland opens in the anterior part of the esophagus, ducts of subventral glands open in posterior part of the esophagus,
• Intestinal caecum absent.
• Female with vulva usually pre-, rarely post-equatorial; vagina about half the length of the undivided part of uterus; paired uteri opisthodelphic, ovarian coils mostly behind vulva; eggs with mamillated, pitted or smooth shells.
• Male with non-alate, cylindrical or club-shaped, spicules; pericloacal region with anterior median unpaired papilla, with or without rough areas in front and behind cloacal opening.
• Other papillae in the male are bilaterally arranged and comprise a latero-ventral irregular row of precloacal papillae, a pair of double papillae behind the cloaca, and a posterior group towards the tip of the tail.

Ref: Sprent, 1968

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References

Gibson, D.I. 1983. Systematics of ascaridoid nematodes - a current assessment. In: Concepts in nematode systematics : Proceedings of an international symposium held jointly with the Association of Applied Biologists, in Cambridge / edited by A.R. Stone, H.M. Platt, and L.F. Khalil

Nadler, S.A. 1987. Biochemical and Immunological Systematics of Some Ascaridoid Nematodes: Genetic Divergence between Congeners. The Journal of Parasitology, 73:811-816

Sprent, J.F.A. 1968. Notes on Ascaris and Toxascaris, with a definition of Baylisascaris gen.nov. Parasitology 58:185-198.

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