Caenorhabditis remanei

C. remanei is a small, free-living round worm found in decaying plant material especially compost, mushroom beds in Northern temperate regions. The worms feed on the bacteria and other microorganisms associated with plant decay. The biology of C. remanei is similar to that of C. elegans with a short generation time through four larval stages into an adult. C.remanei has both male and female adults unlike the hermaphroditic species such as C. elegans and C. briggsae. All three species are often found at the same site. C. remanei is frequently found associated with snails, slugs, millipedes, mites and pill bugs, which like other Caenorhabditids are presumed to transport worms, especially the dormant dauer stage, from one location to another.

C. remanei has previously been known as C. vulgaris prior to the demonstration that this was a junior synonym of C. remanei in 1996 (Sudhaus & Kiontke). The sequenced strain PB4641 was derived from a wild isolate EM464 isolated from a pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare) in Brooklyn, New York in 1990. The wild isolate was inbred for 20 generations in the lab of Scott Baird by transferral of a single gravid female per generation.