Gigantorhynchus is a genus of thorny-headed worms that parasitize marsupials, anteaters, and possibly baboons. The life cycle includes an egg stage found in host feces, a cystacanth stage in an intermediate host such as termites, and an adult stage where cystacanths mature in the intestines of the host. Infestation by a Gigantorchus species may cause partial obstructions of the intestine, severe lesions of the intestinal wall, and may lead to death.
About Gigantorhynchus in brief
Gigantorhynchus is a genus of thorny-headed worms that parasitize marsupials, anteaters, and possibly baboons. The life cycle includes an egg stage found in host feces, a cystacanth stage in an intermediate host such as termites, and an adult stage where cystacanths mature in the intestines of the host. There are six valid species in the genus, although one species out of the six, G. pesteri, appears to be incorrectly assigned. The type species is G. echinodiscus, which is a tropical parasite of anteaters including the giant anteater and the silky anteater. Infestation by a Gigantorchus species may cause partial obstructions of the intestine, severe lesions of the intestinal wall, and may lead to death. Morphological traits used to distinguish the species include a cylindrical proboscis with a crown having eighteen large hooks followed by 21 to 23 small rootless spines arranged in two longitudinal rows from the tip of the hook to the root.
Other traits include a papilla at the base of the probosc is, a long body with pseudosegmentation, filiform lemnisci, and ellipsoid testes. The largest specimen is a female G. ortizi with a length of around 240 millimetres and a width of 2 millimetre. Genetic analysis on one species of GigantOrhynChus places it with the related genus Mediorhynchidae. Six species in this genus are distributed across Central and South America and possibly Zimbabwe. It has been found in Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, and Trinidad Island. It is the first species to be described in the tribe of Acanthocephala and is the type species. The name Gigant Orchids is derived from two Ancient Greek words: gígantas, which means snout, nose, or beak, and rhúnkhos, meaning snout.
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This page is based on the article Gigantorhynchus published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
