Beer Mat Nematode
The beer mat nematode (Panagrellus redivivus) is a tiny roundworm that lives in fermenting, sugary and damp organic materials, such as the soaked cardboard mats under beer glasses. It is bred as food for aquarium fish fry.
The beer mat nematode (Panagrellus redivivus) is a tiny roundworm that lives in fermenting, sugary and damp organic materials, such as the soaked cardboard mats under beer glasses. It is bred as food for aquarium fish fry.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Beer Mat Nematode in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Revived From Dryness
The species name means "come back to life" (redivivus). The worm can enter a dormant, dried-out state and revive when moistened, though not as well as some other nematodes.
Fish Food
Cultures grown on oatmeal supply live microworms for newly hatched fish, which can only eat tiny live food.
A Lab Nematode
Like C. elegans, it is a free-living worm used in studies of development and sex determination. See Caenorhabditis elegans.
Beer Mat Nematode at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Panagrellus redivivus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Nematoda |
| Class | Chromadorea |
| Order | Rhabditida |
| Family | Panagrolaimidae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Nematoda (Roundworms & Parasites) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Microscopic transparent worm about 2 mm long that thrives in damp beer mats and sour paste; fed to newly hatched aquarium fish as 'microworms' (microscope view). |
| Order | Rhabditida |
| Habitat | Fermenting organic matter |
See Also
- Caenorhabditis elegans — a better-known nematode
- Devil Worm — a nematode of the deep