''Phasmarhabditis'' (Greek: Phasma = (φάσμα (phantom); rhabditis = (ῥάβδος (rod-like)) is a genus of bacterial-feeding
nematode
The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...
s which are facultative parasites whose primary hosts are terrestrial
gastropods
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and from the land. Ther ...
(slugs and snails).
[Genena, M. A., Mostafa, F. A., Fouly, A. H., & Yousef, A. A. (2011). First record for the slug parasitic nematode, ''Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita'' (Schneider) in Egypt. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, 44(4), 340-345.] The name comes from Greek: Phasma- (φάσμα (phantom); rhabditis = rod-like (ῥάβδος (rhabdos). The genus is made up of 18 species (as of 2023) including ''
P. hermaphrodita'',
''
P. californica'',
[De Ley, I. T., Holovachov, O., Mc Donnell, R. J., Bert, W., Paine, T. D., & De Ley, P. (2016). Description of ''Phasmarhabditis californica'' n. sp. and first report of ''P. papillosa'' (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) from invasive slugs in the USA. Nematology, 18(2), 175-193.] ''
P. neopapillosa'',
[Hooper, D. J., Wilson, M. J., Rowe, J. A., & Glen, D. M. (1999). Some observations on the morphology and protein profiles of the slug-parasitic nematodes ''Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita'' and ''P. neopapillosa'' (Nematoda: Rhabditidae). Nematology, 1(2), 173-182.] ''P. papillosa'',
''P. apuliae'',
[Nermuť, J., Půža, V., & Mráček, Z. (2016). ''Phasmarhabditis apuliae'' n. sp.(Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a new rhabditid nematode from milacid slugs.] ''P. bohemica'', ''P. bonaquaense'',
[Nermuť, J., Půža, V., Mekete, T., & Mráček, Z. (2016). ''Phasmarhabditis bonaquaense'' n. sp. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a new slug-parasitic nematode from the Czech Republic. Zootaxa, 4179(3), 530-531.] ''P. huizhouensis'',
[Huang, R. E., Ye, W., Ren, X., & Zhao, Z. (2015). Morphological and Molecular Characterization of ''Phasmarhabditis huizhouensis'' sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a new rhabditid nematode from South China. PLoS ONE, 10(12).] ''P. nidrosiensis'',
''P. valida''
and ''P. tawfiki''.
[Azzam, K. M. (2003). Description of the nematode ''Phasmarhabditis tawfiki'' n. sp. isolated from Egyptian terrestrial snails and slugs. JOURNAL-EGYPTIAN GERMAN SOCIETY OF ZOOLOGY, 42(D), 79-88.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10626682
Rhabditidae
Rhabditida genera