Paratrichosoma

Name

Greek: para = similar; trichos = filament; soma = body.

This term describes a cosmopolitan genus of nematodes, which parasitize in at least eight species of crocodiles across Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia, and Australasia. Two species are common: Paratrichosoma crocodylus and Paratrichosoma recurvum. These species, which belong to the group of capillarid nematodes, are distinct from other members of the same group by a thick body cuticle, a thick cuticular lining around the cloaca, the absence of distinct caudal lobe or papilla in males, absent or poorly developed mesenchymal cells at the esophago intestinal junction, and a stichosome that does not reach the intestine. Crocodiles suffer from skin lesions due to penetrating worms.