Acanthocephala

Introduction: Acanthocephala is a phylum of parasitic worms, commonly known as thornyheaded worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to pierce and hold the gut wall of its host.Morphological appearance of body is worm like, somewhat flattened and most species are less than 10-65 cm and few are up to 1 metre.They have complex life cycle, begin their life cycle inside invertebrates that reside in marine or freshwater systems and fishes, birds and mammalians.Global diversity: This phylum represents a total of 971 described species including 515 species from the marine ecosystems. Diversity in India:In India, 296 species belonging to 56 genera, 18 families, 8 orders in 3 classes are recorded. Diversity in States:Indian acanthocephalans are recorded from 32 States and Union Territories whereas no precise location is known for 24 species reported from Indian (Table 1)