Ascaridia		Contents		Rev 10/06/2026
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ascaridia menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Ascaridiidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Class:    Chromadorea

Subclass: Chromadoria

Order:   Rhabditida 

           Suborder: Spirurina

Superfamily: Heterakoidea

Family:  Ascaridiidae

                          Ascaridia Dujardin, 1845

Type species of the genus:

Note: Older classifications may have Ascaridia in the family Ascarididae

Synonyms:

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Nematodes with general characteristics of Ascaridiidae

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Distribution:

Worldwide; intestinal parasites of birds.

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Economic Importance:

Ascaridia galli is an important intestinal parasites of chickens

Ascaridia dissimilis is an intestinal parasite of turheys

Ascaridia columbae is an intestinal parasite of pigeons.

Other species include parasites of parrots

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Hosts:

Chickens, turkeys, pigeons

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Ascaridia

Parasites of the intestine.

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Life Cycle

Life cycle is drirct, no intermediate hosts,

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Damage:

Symptoms of heavy infection in caged biirds include anorexia, diarrhea, stunted growth, listlessness, changes in behavior, and enteritis. Heavy infections can cause a partial or total obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.

Laying hens may produce soft eggs with thin and misshapened shells.

Clinical signs are more common in young chickens less than three months old, as older chicken develop some resistance to infection. Infection may be diagnosed on clinical signs and fecal examination (McMullin, 2004).

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Management:

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References:

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

McMullin, P. 2004. A Pocket Guide to: Poultry Health and Disease. 5M Enterprises Ltd., Sheffield, UK.

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