Nematomorpha are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology. Most species range in size from 50 to 100 millimetres long, reaching 2 metres in extreme cases. Adult worms are free-living, but the larvae are parasitic on arthropods, such as beetles, cockroaches, mantids, orthopterans, and crustaceans.
About Nematomorpha in brief
Nematomorpha are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size from 50 to 100 millimetres long, reaching 2 metres in extreme cases. The adult worms are free-living, but the larvae are parasitic on arthropods, such as beetles, cockroaches, mantids, orthopterans, and crustaceans. About 351 freshwater species are known and a conservative estimate suggests that there may be about 2000 freshwater species worldwide.
Nematomorphs can be confused with nematodes, particularly mermithid worms, but mermithids do not have a terminal cloaca. The phylum is placed along with the Ecdysozoa clade of moulting organisms that include the Arthropoda. The two phyla make up the group Nematoida in the clade Cycloneuralia.
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This page is based on the article Nematomorpha published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 09, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
