brittlestar vs Common cattle grub

Amphiura filiformis compared with Hypoderma lineatum

Key Differences

• brittlestar is Least Concern while Common cattle grub is Extinct.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	brittlestar	Common cattle grub
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Echinodermata (Echinoderms)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Ophiuroidea (Ophiuroidea)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Amphilepidida (Amphilepidida)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Amphiuridae	Oestridae
Genus	Amphiura	Hypoderma
Species	Amphiura filiformis	Hypoderma lineatum

Evolutionary Relationship

brittlestar and Common cattle grub share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

brittlestar

LC — Least Concern

Common cattle grub

EX — Extinct

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	brittlestar	Common cattle grub
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

brittlestar

Habitat

Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Common cattle grub

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Japan, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

brittlestar

The Brittlestar (Amphiura filiformis) is a species in the genus Amphiura. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Native to Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Common cattle grub

<em>Hypoderma lineatum</em>, commonly known as the common cattle grub, is a parasitic fly species with documented occurrences in Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. It typically inhabited terrestrial and freshwater environments, often associated with cattle and other large ungulates on which its larvae develop as subcutaneous parasites. The species is classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List, indicating that it is no longer known to exist in the wild. Common cattle grub belongs to the genus <em>Hypoderma</em> within the family Oestridae. Adult flies do not feed and are short-lived, while larvae burrow under the skin of host animals, causing a condition known as hypodermosis or warble fly infestation. The decline and extinction of this species has been linked to widespread and highly effective veterinary treatment programs targeting warble fly larvae in cattle, which drastically reduced host populations and ultimately eliminated the species. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body length, and mass of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden