A newly-discovered species of tarantula-killing nematode worm has been named in honour of the actor Jeff Daniels, who starred in the 1990s film ‘Arachnophobia’.
‘His character in the film is a spider killer, which is exactly what these nematodes are,’ said parasitologist Adler Dillman, who led the team that discovered the worm.
While Mr Daniels’ Dr Jennings in the comedy–horror flick dispatches his eight-legged foes with electricity, fire and guns, his new namesake infects the spiders’ mouths.
‘Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi’ both paralyses the tarantula’s fang-moving organs and influences their behaviour — stopping them from eating so they eventually starve.
Although it is not known how long T. jeffdanielsi will live on a spider for, they lived in the laboratory for eleven days. The worms are self-fertilizing hermaphrodites that each make 160 babies.
A recently discovered species of tarantula killer nematodeworm (pictured), has been named for Jeff Daniels. He starred in the 90s movie ‘Arachnophobia. Parasitologist Adler Dillman was the one who discovered this worm.
While Mr Daniels’ character in the comedy–horror flick (pictured) dispatches his eight-legged foes with electricity, fire and guns, his new namesake infects the spiders’ mouths. From here, ‘Tarantobelus jeffdanielsi’ both paralyses the tarantula’s fang-moving organs and influences their behaviour — stopping them from eating so they starve
When I heard that a new species had been named for me, it was my first time hearing about them. Do they share a similarity?In remarks to UCR, Daniels joked, “,”
“Honestly, they were honoured to pay homage” to Arachnophobia and me. It made me smile,” the actor said.
He chuckled, “And of course in Hollywood you don’t make it until your name is known by people in the field parasitology.”
While nematodes are among the most abundant animals on the Earth — and are represented by a whopping 25,000-odd different species — this is only the second time that a species has ever been found to infect tarantulas.
T. jeffdanielsi was discovered after a wholesale tarantula breeder contacted Professor Dillman back in the September of 2019, seeking help in identifying a mysterious infection that was affecting some of their spiders.
When tarantulas are infected by T. jeffdanielsi, they exhibit strange behaviours, the researchers explained — such as walking around tiptoe and not eating — while their pedipalps, the appendages that control their fangs, also stop working.
If they are infected, [tarantulas]Professor Dillman said that starvation will kill you.
However, the University of California, Riverside parasitologist noted, this ‘may take months, because tarantulas don’t have to eat particularly often.’
On inspecting some of the infected specimens, the expert noticed that each had an unusual but distinctive white mass present around their mouths — one he recognised immediately as being made up of nematode worms.
Further analysis revealed that the parasites were exclusively infecting the spider’s mouths — with none found in the tarantulas’ stomachs, and there being no signs that the worms had damaged the arachnids’ exteriors either.
‘It isn’t clear that the nematodes feed on the spider itself. Professor Dillman stated that the possibility exists that they may feed on bacteria from the tarantulas.
Researchers explained that the second hypothesis was supported by the discovery that the worms ate E. coli when grown in a lab.
On inspecting some of the infected specimens, Professor Dillman noticed that each had an unusual but distinctive white mass present around their mouths (as pictured)— one he recognised immediately as being made up of nematode worms
According to Professor Dillman, the fact that this is only the second tarantula-infecting nematode ever discovered is probably down more to the limited number of people that study the spiders, rather than the uniqueness of the parasites.
“Nematodes” have existed for many hundreds of thousands of years. They’ve evolved to infect every kind of host on the planet including humans,’ he said.
‘Any animal you know of on planet Earth, there’s a nematode that can infect it.’
With their initial study complete, the team are now looking to understand how the worms alter the tarantula’s behaviour and paralyse their pedipalps — as well as developing ways that breeders could deal with or prevent T. jeffdanielsi infections.
Journal of Parasitology has published all findings.