Monhystera		Contents		Rev: 12/24/2021
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Monhystera Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Monhysteridae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Chromadoria

   Monhysterida

Monhysterina

Monhysteroidea

            Monhysteridae

      

 Monhystera Bastian, 1865

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

photomicrographs by Howard Ferris and Sam Woo, UC Davis	Females: Cuticle smooth or finely striated, usually with scattered setae. Body length 0.8-1.4 mm. Head with 4, 6 or 8 cephalic setae. Stoma broad and shallow, opening into funnel shaped beginning of esophagus lumen. Stoma without teeth or denticles. Amphids circular, within 1 head width of anterior. Ocelli may be opresent in aquatic forms. Esophagus cylindrical. Terminal bulb may be present or absent. Esophago-intestinal valve spheroid. Ovary single, outstretched. Vulva usually betwee 55 and 75% of body length. Caudal glands in tail with duct to short spinneret at tail tip.        Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:
Monhystera stagnalis Photograph by Marco Spiller
Males:   Testis single, outstretched. Spicules paired, long and slender, 2.5-7 times abd. Gubernaculum present, often with posterior process.

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Distribution:

Marine, freshwater and soil forms.

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Feeding:

Feed on bacteria and possibly substrate ingestion in which the substrate includes bacteria, protozoa, algae, etc. (Yeates et al., 1993).

Monhystera sp. observed to feed and establish colonies on bacteria (Wood, 1973).

Monhystera disjuncta in estuarine environments feeding mainly on bacteria but also on protozoa and algae. In the same environments, Monhystera parva feeding on diatoms, algae and ,to a lesser extent, bacteria (Moens and Vincx, 1997).

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Biology and Ecology:

Free-living, predominantly freshwater, species.

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Andrássy, I. 2005.  Free-living Nematodes of Hungary, Vol. I. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest.

Goodey, T. (rev. J.B. Goodey). 1963.  Soil and Freshwater Nematodes.  John Wiley, NY. 544p.

Moens, Y. and Vincx, M. 1997. Observations on the feeding ecology of estuarine nematodes. Journal of the Marine Biology Assoc. U.K. 77:211-227.

Yeates, G.W., T. Bongers, R. G. M. De Goede, D. W. Freckman, and S. S. Georgieva. 1993. Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera—An outline for soil ecologists. Journal of Nematology 25:315-331

Wood, F.H. 1973. Nematode feeding relationships: Feeding relationships of soil-dwelling nematodes. Soil Riol. Biochem. 5: 593-601.

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: December 24, 2021.