Camallanus cotti

Camallanus cotti is an intestinal parasite of tropical fish.  Related species can be found in temperate and tropical fish world-wide.  These worms are large enough that adult worms can be seen in the intestinal contents of a fish without the aid of a microscope.  As seen in the above pictures, the anterior end of the worm contains a rasping organ that is used to drill into the intestine wall and provide anchorage for the worm.  These worms can frequently be seen with their posterior end dangling from the anus of the host fish.  The parasite does this to release its young to fall to the gravel to be picked up by feeding fish and invertebrates. These worms are live-bearing as seen below when an adult was captured releasing young under the gaze of my microscope.