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The giant kidney worm (Dioctophyme renale; syn. Dioctophyma renale) is the largest known parasitic nematode and can infest the kidney and occasionally the abdominal cavity in dogs. Female worms reach lengths of over one meter by up to 12 mm in diameter; male worms measure 20 cm by 6–8 mm.
Dioctophyme renale, commonly referred to as the giant kidney worm, [1] [2] [3] is a parasitic nematode (roundworm) whose mature form is found in the kidneys of mammals. D. renale is distributed worldwide, but is less common in Africa and Oceania. [4] It affects fish-eating mammals, particularly mink [1] and dogs. [4]
The Mekong giant earthworm may grow to a length of up to 2.9 m (10 ft). [2] Compared to their great length, these worms are relatively slender. [3] The type specimen was one metre long and 8 mm (0.3 in) wide at the broadest point (segment 5). It had 370 segments and was a greyish colour, rather paler on the ventral surface.
Fish-eating mammals (such as minks and dogs) can become infected with the giant kidney worm Dioctophyme renale. [45] Pigs can become infected with the Stephanurus dentatus worm, which is found throughout the world, but is more common in the tropics and subtropics. [46] [45] Kidney infections are considered rare among marine mammals. [193]
A mutation in the age−1 gene of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans increased mean life span 65% and maximum life span 110%. [82] However, the degree of lifespan extension in relative terms by both the age-1 and daf-2 mutations is strongly dependent on ambient temperature, with ≈10% extension at 16 °C and 65% extension at 27 °C.
However, 'earthworm' can be a source of confusion since, in most of the world, other species are more typical. For example, through much of the unirrigated temperate areas of the world, the "common earthworm" is actually Aporrectodea (=Allolobophora) trapezoides, which in those areas is a similar size and dark colour to L. terrestris.
Up to 60 cm in length, this earthworm is one of the largest European species. [1] [2] It weighs between 25 and 35 g and lives in subterranean tubes which are up to 2.5 m deep. It feeds on organic matter it ingests from the surface and aerates the soil as it moves through it, contributing to the formation of humus. It is prey for foxes and owls.
Rhinodrilus fafner is a presumed extinct giant earthworm of the family Glossoscolecidae. It is only known by the badly preserved holotype discovered in 1912 near Belo Horizonte in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais and described in 1918 by German zoologist Wilhelm Michaelsen (1860–1937) from the National History Museum in Hamburg. The ...