''Aranimermis giganteus'' is the largest known species of

Mermithidae Mermithidae is a family of nematode worms that are endoparasites in arthropods. As early as 1877, Mermithidae was listed as one of nine subdivisions of the Nematoidea. Mermithidae are confused with the horsehair worms of the phylum Nematomorpha ...

and often infects the mygalomorph spiders of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

.Poinar, G.O. & Early, J.W. (1990)
Aranimermis giganteus n. sp. (Mermithidae : Nematoda), a parasite of New Zealand mygalomorph spiders (Araneae : Arachnida).
''Revue Nématol. 13''(4): 403-410.

Taxonomy

''Aranimermis giganteus'' was described in 1990 from samples collected from parasitized spiders caught in traps.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5234291 Mermithidae Nematodes described in 1990