Critical revision of the Heligmonellidae (Nematoda: Trichostrongylina: Heligmosomoidea)

The Heligmonellidae is the most speciose family of the Heligmosomoidea, one of the three superfamilies of the Trichostrongylina, nematode parasites of the digestive tract of all groups of terrestrial vertebrates. The family comprises more than 360 species distributed worldwide, mainly parasitic in rodents. Their life-cycles being monoxenous, and their hosts relatively easy to breed in laboratory, these parasites are interesting for researchers as models to address different topics such as host-parasite relationships, biology, pathogenicity and phylogeny. However, the huge diversity of the group, together with its apparent morphological homogeneity, makes its identification extremely difficult. This critical revision presents for the first time a compilation of all the taxonomical, morphological and morphometrical data available on the family Heligmonellidae, and intends to provide researchers with a must-have tool for identifying the known taxa as accurately as possible. Four of the five recognized families are treated here: the Tricholinstowiinae, the Heligmonellinae, the Pudicinae, and the Brevistriatinae.

Marie-Claude Durette-Desset, is currently Doctor Emeritus at the CNRS (The National Centre for Scientific Research). She spent her career at the MNHN (National Museum of Natural History, Paris) focusing on the biology, systematics and phylogeny of the Trichostrongyloidea (Nematoda), parasites in the digestive tract of the majority of terrestrial vertebrates. 
María Celina Digiani has a PhD in Natural Sciences from the National University of La Plata and is a researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) in Argentina. She has specialized in parasitology, focusing her interest in the biodiversity of helminths parasites of wild vertebrates. The systematics of heligmosomoid nematodes parasitic in mammals is a main area of her research. 
Mohamed Kilani is a veterinarian, Professor of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases of Domestic Animals, at the Veterinary School of Alfort, Paris. He spent most of his career as a teacher in this discipline at the Sidi Thabet School of Veterinary Medicine in Tunisia, where he was Director. 
Didier Geffard-Kuriyama is a scientific illustrator and draughtsman in a scientific iconography service at the MNHN (National Museum of Natural History).