These are the interface between the parasitic and free-living nematodes. Most spend their whole life-cycles in soil or other inanimate environments, while some are parasitic on plants (such as the potato eel-worm). A few are facultatively parasitic on animals such as ''Pelodera'', which causes dermatitis in dogs and ''Halicephalobus'', which produces ataxia in horses (and other animals) on rare occasions. There is just one regularly parasitic genus in the superfamily: ''Strongyloides''. | These are the interface between the parasitic and free-living nematodes. Most spend their whole life-cycles in soil or other inanimate environments, while some are parasitic on plants (such as the potato eel-worm). A few are facultatively parasitic on animals such as ''Pelodera'', which causes dermatitis in dogs and ''Halicephalobus'', which produces ataxia in horses (and other animals) on rare occasions. There is just one regularly parasitic genus in the superfamily: ''Strongyloides''. |