Neoncicola

Neoncicola is a genus of parasitic worms containing nine species and belongs to the family Oligacanthorhynchidae.

Taxonomy
Phylogenetic analyses have been conducted on Oncicola, a genus morphologically nearly identical to Neoncicola and Pachysentis apart from the number of hooks on the proboscis, and have also placed it in the family Oligacanthorhynchidae.

Description
The distinguishing characteristic separating Neoncicola from these similar genera is that it possesses 30 hooks, as opposed to 36 for Oncicola and more than 36 for Pachysentis.

Species
There are nine species in the genus Neoncicola. Neoncicola artibei was found infesting the Great fruit-eating bat (Artibeus lituratus). The species was named after the genus of the host, Artibeus.
 * Neoncicola artibei Smales, 2007
 * Neoncicola avicola (Travassos, 1917)
 * Neoncicola bursata (Meyer, 1931)
 * Neoncicola curvata (von Linstow, 1897)
 * Neoncicola novellae (Parona, 1890)
 * Neoncicola pintoi (Machado-Filho, 1950)
 * Neoncicola potosi (Machado-Filho, 1950)
 * Neoncicola sinensis Schmidt & Dunn, 1974
 * Neoncicola skrjabini (Morosow, 1951)

Hosts
The life cycle of an acanthocephalan consists of three stages beginning when an infective acanthor (development of an egg) is released from the intestines of the definitive host and then ingested by an arthropod, the intermediate host. The intermediate host of M. myrmecobius is inferred to be termites, the main diet of the numbat. When the acanthor molts, the second stage called the acanthella begins. This stage involves penetrating the wall of the mesenteron or the intestine of the intermediate host and growing. The final stage is the infective cystacanth which is the larval or juvenile state of an Acanthocephalan, differing from the adult only in size and stage of sexual development. The cystacanths within the intermediate hosts are consumed by the definitive host, usually attaching to the walls of the intestines, and as adults they reproduce sexually in the intestines. The acanthor are passed in the feces of the definitive host and the cycle repeats. There are no known paratenic hosts (hosts where parasites infest but do not undergo larval development or sexual reproduction) for Neoncicola.

Neoncicola has been found parasitizing bats. There are no reported cases of Neoncicola infesting humans in the English language medical literature.