| Gordiidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gordius aquaticus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Nematomorpha |
| Class: | Gordioida |
| Order: | Gordioidea |
| Family: | Gordiidae May, 1919 |
Gordiidae is a family of parasitic horsehair worms belonging to the order Gordioidea. [1]
To date only two genera have been identified in the Gordiidae. These horsehair worms are characterized by a post-cloacal crescent located at the base of the two tail lobes. The genera are distinguished by the distinctly pointed tips on male Acutogordius tail lobes in comparison with Gordius . [2] Recorded hosts are usually Polyneopteran insects such as Orthoptera and Mantodea.
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility lists: [1]
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, and 1 to 3 millimetres in diameter. Horsehair worms can be discovered in damp areas, such as watering troughs, swimming pools, streams, puddles, and cisterns. 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. The name "Gordian" stems from the legendary Gordian knot. This relates to the fact that nematomorphs often coil themselves in tight balls that resemble knots.
Gordius may refer to:
Oligochaeta is a subclass of animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworms, and freshwater or semiterrestrial microdrile forms, including the tubificids, pot worms and ice worms (Enchytraeidae), blackworms (Lumbriculidae) and several interstitial marine worms.
The Mormon cricket is a large insect that can grow to almost 8 cm in length. It lives throughout western North America in rangelands dominated by sagebrush and forbs. Despite its name, the Mormon cricket is actually a shieldbacked katydid, not a cricket. It takes its name from Mormon settlers in Utah, who encountered them while pushing westward, and for the prominent role they play in the miracle of the gulls.
Horsehair is the long hair growing on the manes and tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing fabric called haircloth, and for horsehair plaster, a wallcovering material formerly used in the construction industry and now found only in older buildings.
Haircloth is a stiff, unsupple fabric typically made from horsehair and/or from the wooly hair of a camel. Although horsehair generally refers to the hair of a horse's mane or tail, haircloth itself is sometimes called horsehair. Horse or camel hair woven into haircloth may be fashioned into clothing or upholstery.
Nereididae are a family of polychaete worms. It contains about 500 – mostly marine – species grouped into 42 genera. They may be commonly called ragworms or clam worms.
Laugia is a genus of coelacanth fishes which lived during the Early Triassic epoch in Greenland. It contains one species, Laugia groenlandica, named by Erik Stensiö in 1932. Along with the Early Triassic Belemnocerca and the Late Jurassic Coccoderma, it forms the family Laugiidae. It can be distinguished from other laugiids by its smaller number of tail fin rays: 17–18 in the top lobe and 13–14 in the bottom lobe, compared to 21–22 in the top lobe for the other two genera. Most other coelacanths have symmetrical numbers of tail fin rays.
The nematodes or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda, with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Taxonomically, they are classified along with insects and other moulting animals in the clade Ecdysozoa, and unlike flatworms, have tubular digestive systems with openings at both ends. Like tardigrades, they have a reduced number of Hox genes, but their sister phylum Nematomorpha has kept the ancestral protostome Hox genotype, which shows that the reduction has occurred within the nematode phylum.
Nematoida is a grouping of animals, including the roundworms and horsehair worms.
The 10th edition of Systema Naturae is a book written by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature. In it, Linnaeus introduced binomial nomenclature for animals, something he had already done for plants in his 1753 publication of Species Plantarum.
Myoscolex is an early animal species known from the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale in South Australia. Originally interpreted as an annelid, it seems to be an arthropod; the possible presence of an Opabinia-like proboscis, eyes, and flaps suggests a plausible relationship with that species. Myoscolex is the earliest known example of phosphotized muscle tissue, and as to which shows distinct annulation.
Gordius is a genus of worms in the phylum Nematomorpha, the horsehair worms. It was formerly treated as the only genus in the family Gordiidae, but the genus Acutogordius is now considered as distinct. The genus is distributed worldwide except for Antarctica, where no Nematomorpha have been recorded.
Paragordius varius is a parasite species in the horsehair worm group (Nematomorpha). They cycle between terrestrial and aquatic habitats and are most commonly known for their ability to manipulate their definitive host to jump into a pool of water, which allows them to complete their life cycle. Adults are over 10 cm long and 400 μm in diameter. P. varius is usually found in water or wet areas. The definitive hosts are mainly terrestrial arthropods, most often carabid beetles, crickets and praying mantids.
Chordodes formosanus is a horsehair worm that has the praying mantis as its definitive host. Horsehair worms are obligate parasites that pass through different hosts at various stages. These worms can grow up to 90 cm long and can be extremely dangerous for their host, especially the praying mantis.
Nectonema is a genus of marine horsehair worms first described by Addison E. Verrill in 1879. It is the only genus in the family Nectonematidae described by Henry B. Ward in 1892, in the order Nectonematoidea, and in the class Nectonematoida. The genus contains five species; all species have a parasitic larval stage inhabiting crustacean hosts and a free-living adult stage that swims in open water.
Gordioidea is an order of parasitic horsehair worms. Its taxonomy remains uncertain, but appears to be contained in the monotypic class Gordioida and contains about 320 known species.
Chordodidae is a family of parasitic horsehair worms belonging to the order Gordioidea; its taxonomy is under review.
Gordius balticus is a species of horsehair worm belonging to the genus Gordius.
Acutogordius is a genus of worms belonging to the family Gordiidae.
Media related to Gordiidae at Wikimedia Commons