Family Dorylaimidae
Classification:
Enoplea
Dorylaimia
Dorylaimida
Dorylaimina
Dorylaimoidea
Dorylaimidae De Man, 1876
Morphology and Anatomy:
- like all members of the Dorylaimida, have a movable mural tooth or hollow spear - odontostyle
- which originates from a migrated stomal cell (from the Cheilostome);
- spear extensions originate from an esophageal cell (the esophostome);
- have a two-part esophagus which is slender anteriorly and has a posterior
swollen glandular and muscular region.
- have a smooth cuticle;
- species of
nematodes in the Dorylaimidae feed on algae, fungi or other nematodes; they are
often omnivorous.
- Etymology: laimos = greek for throat, dory = spear; thus
Dorylaimus = "spear in throat".
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Dorylaimus sp., spear protruding.
Photo: Aldo Zullini |
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Eudorylaimus sp. - juvenile, note replacement
spear
Photo: Peter Mullin |
Remarks:
Based on observations of variability in the postembryonic development of the
caudal region of Dorylaimida, and on molecular analysis, Pena-Santiago and
Alvarez-Ortega (2014) propsed an emended diagnosis of the family Dorylaimidae
that includes the following characters:
- Variable size.
- Cuticle dorylaimoid, sometimes with longitudinal ridges
- Lip region ranging from continuous with body contour to deeply offset
- Odontostyle well developed; aperture up to 50% of odontostyle length
- Guiding ring simple or double
- Odontophore rod-like, no flanges
- Basal part of pharynx about half of total pharynx length
- Female didelphic, amphidelphic;
pars refringens
vaginae always present
- Vulva transverse or longitudinal
- One or more juvenile stages with elongate-conoid or filiform tail
- Adults with similar tails (no sexual
dimorphism), rounded, never conical, or with
dissimilar tails (with sexual dimorphism), long in females, short and
rounded in males
- Males with robust spicules and ventromedian supplements
Pena-Santiago and Alvarez-Ortega (2014) proposed that the family
Qudsianematidae be assigned as a subfamily of the
Dorylaimidae emended the diagnosis of the subfamily Qudsianematinae as follows:
- Variable size.
- Cuticle dorylaimoid
- Lip region ranging from continuous with body contour to deeply offset
- Odontostyle well developed; aperture up to 50% of odontostyle length
- Guiding ring simple
- Odontophore rod-like, no flanges
- Baal part of pharynx about half of total pharynx length
- Female didelphic, amphidelphic;
pars refringens
vaginae always present
- Vulva usually a transverse slit
- Caudal region conical with acute tip, similar in both sexes and in
juvenile stages, often curved ventrad (no caudal sexual dimorphism), never
rounded
- Males with robust spicules and ventromedian supplements
Pena-Santiago and Alvarez-Ortega (2014) also proposed a subfamily
Labronematinae of the Dorylaimidae and provided the following diagnosis for the
Labronematinae:
- Variable size.
- Cuticle dorylaimoid
- Lip region ranging from continuous with body contour to deeply offset
- Odontostyle well developed; aperture up to 50% of odontostyle length
- Guiding ring simple or double
- Odontophore rod-like, no flanges
- Basl part of pharynx about half of total pharynx length
- Female didelphic, amphidelphic;
pars refringens
vaginae always present
- Vulva transverse or longitudinal
- Caudal region short and rounded, similar in both sexes (no sexual
dimorphism) but elongate in one or more juvenile stages
- Males with robust spicules and ventromedian supplements
Genera assigned to the above subfamilies by Pena-Santiago and Alvarez-Ortega
(2014)
References
De Man, J.G. 1876. Onderzoekingen over vrij in de
aarde levende Nematoden. Tijdschrift Ned, Dierk.. Ver. 2:78-196.
Jairajpuri, M.S. and W. Ahmad. 1992. Dorylaimida:
free-living, predaceous and plant-parasitic nematodes. Brill, Leiden. 458 p.
Pearse, A.S. 1942. Introduction to Parasitology.
Baltimore. 357p.
Pena-Santiago, R. and S. Alvarez-Ortega. 2014. An integrative approach to
assess the phylogeny and the systematics of rounded-tailed genera of the
subfamily Qudsianematinae (Nematoda, Dorylaimida). Zoologica Scripta 43:418-428.
