''Capillaria'' is a genus of nematodes in the family

Capillariidae ''Capillariidae'' is a family of parasitic nematodes. All its members are parasites in vertebrates when they are in their adult stage. Taxonomy The family Capillariidae was created by Railliet in 1915. It is accepted in the most recent classifi ...

(or, according to classifications, in the family

Trichinellidae The family Trichinellidae includes the genus ''Trichinella''. ''Trichinella'', also known as the trichina worm, is responsible for the disease trichinosis Trichinosis, also known as trichinellosis, is a parasitic disease caused by roundwor ...

).
Since the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the

is disputed, species are included within the single

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Capillaria'' or 22 different genera (''Amphibiocapillaria, Aonchotheca, Baruscapillaria, Calodium, Capillaria, Capillostrongyloides, Crocodylocapillaria, Echinocoleus, Eucoleus, Freitascapillaria, Gessyella, Liniscus, Paracapillaria, Paracapillaroides, Pearsonema, Paratrichosoma, Pseudocapillaria, Piscicapillaria, Pseudocapillaroides, Pterothominx, Schulmanela'', and ''Tenoranema'').Moravec, František 2001: Trichinelloid Nematodes parasitic in cold-blooded vertebrates. Academia, Praha, 432 pp. (list of genera in pages 30-32) ()
Some species parasitic in fish, previously classified within ''Capillaria'', are now included in ''

Huffmanela ''Huffmanela'' is a genus of parasitic nematodes, belonging to the family Trichosomoididae. Morphology As other nematodes, species of ''Huffmanela'' are elongate and vermiform. They are especially thin and small. The male is smaller than the fem ...

'' (family

Trichosomoididae The ''Trichosomoididae'' is a family of nematodes. Morphological characteristics The Trichosomoididae, as most nematodes, have an elongate body, vermiform and covered with a cuticle. There is often a cuticular ornamentation in form of cephalic ...

). Old literature, and sometimes modern medical literature, use ''Capillaria'' as a

for

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

included in all these genera.
The term

Capillariasis Capillariasis is a disease caused by nematodes in the genus '' Capillaria''.Berger SA, Marr JS. Human Parasitic Diseases Sourcebook. Jones and Bartlett Publishers: Sudbury, Massachusetts, 2006. The two principal forms of the disease are: * Intest ...

is generally used for diseases produced by species of ''Capillaria'', even if the species is now placed in another genus.

Species

Parasite140131-fig1 Capillaria plectropomi Figure 1H Caudal end of male

Species in the genus ''Capillaria'' include (among hundreds of described species): * ''

Capillaria aerophila ''Capillaria aerophila'' is a nematode parasite found in the respiratory tract of foxes, dogs, and various other carnivorous mammals. A few cases of human infestation have also been reported. Though it is sometimes called a "lungworm", this t ...

''; modern name ''Eucoleus aerophilus''; a parasite of the respiratory system of foxes and other mammals * ''Capillaria gastrica''; a parasite of rodents * ''Capillaria hepatica''; modern name ''Calodium hepaticum''; cause of hepatic capillariasis in humans * ''Capillaria philippinensis''; modern name ''Paracapillaria philippinensis''; cause of intestinal capillariasis in humans * ''Capillaria plica''; modern name ''Pearsonema plica''; a parasite of the urinary system of dogs and other mammals * ''Capillaria feliscati''; modern name ''Pearsonema feliscati''; a parasite of the urinary system of cats and other mammals

References

Enoplea genera Parasitic nematodes of mammals {{Parasitic animal-stub

Species

See also

References