Pachysentis

Pachysentis
Proboscis of P. lenti[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Acanthocephala
Class: Archiacanthocephala
Order: Oligacanthorhynchida
Family: Oligacanthorhynchidae
Genus: Pachysentis
Meyer, 1931[1]
Type species
Pachysentis canicola
Meyer, 1931
Other species
  • Pachysentis angolensis
  • Pachysentis dollfusi
  • Pachysentis ehrenbergi
  • Pachysentis gethi
  • Pachysentis lauroi
  • Pachysentis lenti
  • Pachysentis procumbens
  • Pachysentis procyonis
  • Pachysentis rugosus
  • Pachysentis septemserialis?

Pachysentis is a genus in Acanthocephala (thorny-headed worms, also known as spiny-headed worms) that parasitize primates and carnivorans. They are distributed across Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. Pachysentis species attach themselves to the inner lining of the gastrointestinal tract of their hosts using their hook-covered proboscis. Their life cycle includes an egg stage found in host feces, a cystacanth (larval) stage in an intermediate host such as the Egyptian cobra, and an adult stage where cystacanths mature in the intestines of the host. This genus appears identical to the closely related Oncicola apart from a greater number of hooks on the proboscis. There are eleven species assigned to this genus, although P. septemserialis is of uncertain taxonomic status. The female worms range from 12 millimetres (0.47 in) long and 1.6 millimetres (0.063 in) wide in P. lauroi to 50 millimetres (2.0 in) long and 4 millimetres (0.16 in) wide in P. dollfusi. Virtually all of the length is the trunk, with a short proboscis. There is pronounced sexual dimorphism in this species as females are around twice the size of the males.

  1. ^ Meyer, A (1931). "Neue Acanthocephalen aus dem Berliner Museum. Burgrundung eines neue Acanthocephalen systems auf Grund einer Untersuchung der Berliner Sammlung" [New Acanthocephala from the Berlin Museum. Foundation of a new Acanthocephala system based on an investigation of the Berlin collection.]. Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere (in German). 62: 53–108.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gomes 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).