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Enoplean nematodes · Trichinellida · Trichinellidae

Pork Worm

Trichinella spiralis

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria.

Spotted something wrong?

Trichinella spiralis is a nematode of the class Adenophorea that causes a disease known as trichinellosis, trichinosis or trichiniasis.

Size

up to 0.4 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Fun facts

  • GeneralIt is why the meat of wild boar and domestic pigs has to be tested before it is eaten.
  • The larva does not destroy the muscle cell it invades: it reprogrammes it into a nurse cell surrounded by new blood vessels, an extreme case of host manipulation.
  • Salting, smoking and curing do not destroy the encysted larvae, contrary to what is often believed.
  • It is a parasite that never needs to leave the host: adults and larvae live in the same animal, and transmission happens only when another eats its raw flesh.
  • The larva encysts inside a muscle cell that it transforms completely, turning it into a nurse cell that feeds it for years.
  • Trichinosis is contracted by eating raw or undercooked pork or wild boar. In Spain, veterinary inspection of game is compulsory precisely for this reason.
  • The symptoms are fever, severe muscle pain and swelling of the eyelids, which appear as the larvae migrate into the muscle.
  • Trichinoscopic inspection of pork, compulsory since the nineteenth century, is one of the oldest food safety measures still in force.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Invertebrate - no rigid skeleton (hydrostatic skeleton beneath the cuticle)
Habitat and environment
A parasite: the muscle of pigs, wild boar and people

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Trichinella spiralis

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Pork Worm — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

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See full glossary
Grassland
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TagsCarnivore
Carnivore
Solitary
Grassland
Worm