Oxyuris

A genus of nematodes commonly called seatworms or pinworms (although the pinworm of humans is the closely related form, Enterobius vermicularis). O. equi, the horse pinworm, is a common parasite of horses in all parts of the world, inhabiting the large intestine. [G. oxys, sharp, + oura, tail]

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oxy·uris -'yu̇r-əs n

1) cap a genus (the type of the family Oxyuridae) of parasitic nematodes with a long slender tail and a well-developed posterior pharyngeal enlargement

2) any nematode worm of the genus Oxyuris or a related genus (as Enterobius): PINWORM

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n.

see threadworm

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Oxy·uris (ok″se-uґris) [Gr. oxys sharp + oura tail] a genus of intestinal nematodes of the family Oxyuridae. O. eґqui, the largest known pinworm, is found in the cecum, colon, and rectum of the horse. O. vermiculaґris has been renamed Enterobius vermicularis.