Trophomera litoralis

Trophomera litoralis	Contents	Rev 11/21/2025
	Classification	Hosts
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Trophomera Menu	Economic Importance	Damage
	Distribution	Management
Return to Benthimermithidae Menu	Feeding	References
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Mermithina

Mermithoidea

Benthimermithidae

Trophomera litoralis Miljutin, 2006

Morphology and Anatomy:

Species described on the basis of four males which differ from those of other Trophomera species primarily by the much higher number of precloacal supplementary organs (105-108 vs 2-68).

Trophomera litoralis is most similar to T. regalis but differs by shorter body length (5.8-9.3 vs 14.9 mm), body proportions (a = 67-107 vs 124.4; c = 61-97 vs 135.7), greater length of the intermediate spermatoduct between the anterior and posterior testes (ca 1/7th vs ca 1/140th of body length), tail shape (rounded conoid vs pointed conoid), and number of precloacal supplementary organs (105-108 vs 49). (Miljutin, 2006)

Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

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Distribution:

Trophomera litoralis was collected from the tidal zone of Ushishir Island (Kuril Archipelago) (Miljutin, 2006).,

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Feeding:

Juveniles parasitic in marine invertebrates, adults apparenly not feeding. The intra-cellular inclusions and shrinkage of the trophosome, together with degradation of the reproductive organs, suggest that the trophosome functions to store nutrients that are expended during the free-living adult stage in sediments (Miljutin and Tchesunov, 2001).

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

Like the mermithids of fresh-water and soil environments (Order Mermithida), the larval stages of benthimermithids parasitise the body cavities and internal organs of invertebrate hosts, including polychaetes, priapulids, various crustaceans, holothuroids and free-living nematodes. Adult or late larval stages leave the host and enter a nonparasitic phase in which they reproduce but, based on their modified digestive system and lack of a mouth, apparently do not feed. So, larval stages parasitize benthic invertebrates, while non-feeding adult stages reproduce in benthic sediment (Miljutin and Tchesunov, 2001).

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click	If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Ferris, H. 2007. Stichosomida. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. http://accesscience.com/abstract.aspx

Miljutin, D.M. and Tchesunov, A.V. 2001. On the histological anatomy of Benthimermis megala Petter, 1987, a giant nematode from the Norwegian deep-sea (Nematoda: Benthimermithidae). Nematology 3:491-502.

Miljutin, D.M. 2006. The genus Trophomera Rubtsov & Platonova, 1974 with description of T. litoralis sp. n. (Nematoda: Benthimermithidae) from the tidal zone of the Kuril Archipelago and proposal of Benthimermis Petter, 1980 as a junior synonym. Nematology 8:411-423, https://doi.org/10.1163/156854106778493457

Petter A-J. 1980. Une nouvelle famille de Nematodes parasites del Invertebrates marins, les Benthimermithidae. Annales de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparee 55: 209-224.

Platonova, T. A., & Galtsova, V. V. (1976). Nematodes and their role in the meiobenthos. Akademiya Nauk

Rubtsov, I. A., & Platonova, T. A. (1974). A new family of marine parasitic nematodes. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 53, 1445-1458.