 | This article is missing information about wild habitat, or: what were their ancestors doing before humans made vinegar.(January 2025) |
| Vinegar eels | |
|---|---|
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| Illustration of vinegar eels | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Nematoda |
| Class: | Secernentea |
| Order: | Tylenchida |
| Family: | Panagrolaimidae |
| Genus: | Turbatrix |
| Species: | T. aceti |
| Binomial name | |
| Turbatrix aceti (Müller, 1783) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Turbatrix aceti (vinegar eels, vinegar nematode, Anguillula aceti) are free-living nematodes that feed on a microbial culture called mother of vinegar (used to create vinegar) and may be found in unfiltered vinegar. They were discovered by Pierre Borel in 1656. [1]
They are exceptionally tolerant of variation in acidity and alkalinity and they may be able to tolerate a wider range than any other species, being able to survive from pH 1.6 to 11. [2]
Vinegar eels are often given to fry (baby fish) as a live food, like microworms. [1] [3] Although they are harmless and non-parasitic, leaving eels in vinegar is considered objectionable (for example, in the United States they are not permitted in vinegar destined for American consumers). [4] Manufacturers normally filter and pasteurize their product prior to bottling, destroying the live bacterial and yeast culture that these nematodes require for sustenance.
At high concentration near a boundary, vinegar eels synchronize their undulations, forming a collective wave. [5] [6]
Aging in T. aceti is associated with a decline in the ability to repair DNA damage, [7] [8] a finding that is consistent with the theory that DNA damage contributes to aging. [9]
