

(1887a) Osservazioni sui charatteri diagnostici dei Gordius e sopra alcune specie di Gordius d´Europa. Annales del Instituto de Biologia de la Universidad Nacional de Mexico, 7, 477–488.Ĭamerano, L.

(1936) Contribucion al conocimiento de los Gordius de Mexico. (Eds.), Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates. de (1913) Turbellaries, Trématodes et Gordiacés del viaggio di Alluand e Jeannel nel l´Africa orientale. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 113, 193–197.īeauchamp, P. (1944) Notes on the distribution of hairworms (Nematomorpha: Gordiidae) in the British Isles. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 7, 228–230.īaylis, H.A. (1861) Description of some new species of intestinal worms (Entozoa) in the collection of the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 21, 18–25.īaird, W. (1853) Description of some new species of Entozoa from the collection of the British Museum. Korean Journal of Systematic Zoology, 8, 223–230.īaird, W. (1992) Two species of genus Gordius (Gordioidea, Nematomorpha) from Korea. Despite such problems some specimens show unique and new characters or character combinations and the following seven species are described as new: G. Such characters were not included in older descriptions and their value for taxonomy will become apparent as more data is available. Recent methods such as SEM reveal characters such as the presence of fine bristles in the posterior end or different fine structures of the cuticular surface.


The species Gordius aquaticus is the best known name among nematomorphs, but its diagnostic characters are critically reviewed. The remaining 79 species and their characters are summarized in a table. From the 119 species of the genus, 40 are regarded as invalid. The characters important for determination (coloration, size, shape of anterior and posterior end, structures in the male posterior end, cuticular structure) are discussed. Specimens belonging to the genus Gordius (horsehair worms, Nematomorpha) are comparatively poor in diagnostic characters and determination of species is difficult. Nematomorpha, horsehair worms, Gordius, taxonomy, determination, SEM Abstract Zoological Museum, University Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
