Spiruridae is family of
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 in the order
Spirurida
Spirurida falls under the phylum Nematoda class Chromadorea and order Rhabditida. They are characterized by their elongated, cylindrical bodies and unsegmented structure. Like all nematodes, they have neither a circulatory nor a respiratory sys ...
. An unidentified parasitic larval member of this family has been recorded in the
marsh rice rat
The marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, f ...
(''Oryzomys palustris'') in a salt marsh at
Cedar Key, Florida
Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, Levy County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 687, down from 702 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Gainesville, Florida Gainesville met ...
, and also in
fiddler crab
The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...
s (''Uca'') there; it is perhaps a bird parasite that does not reach maturity in the rice rat.
[Kinsella, 1988, p. 278]
See also
*
List of parasites of the marsh rice rat
A variety of parasites have been recorded from the marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris''), a semiaquatic rodent found in the eastern and southern United States, north to New Jersey and Kansas and south to Florida and Texas, and in Tamaulipas, far ...
References
Literature cited
*Kinsella, J.M. 1988. Comparison of helminths of rice rats, ''Oryzomys palustris'', from freshwater and saltwater marshes in Florida. Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 55(2):275–280.
{{Authority control
Spirurida
Nematode families