Halomonhystera refringens

Halomonhystera refringens	Contents	Rev: 03/08/2026
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Halomonhystera Menu	Economic Importance	Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Monhysteridae Menu	Feeding	References
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Classification:

Chromadorea
Chromadoria
Monhysterida: Monhysterina
Monhysteroidea
Monhysteridae: Diplolaimellinae
Halomonhystera refringens (Bresslau & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1933) Leduc, 2025

Synonyms:

Monhystera refringens Bresslau & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1933
Thalassomonhystera refringens (Bresslau & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1933) Jacobs, 1987
Monhystera britannica Wieser, 1951op Wieser, 1959
Monhystera refringens britannica Wieser, 1951
Halomonhystera zhangi Li, Huang & Huang, 2024

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Cuticle smooth with faint striations in some specimens. Sparse sublateral somatic setae, 4-5 um long,
Cephalic region slightly rounded, not offset; inner labial papillae not observed; six outer labial setae and four cephalic setae
of similar length and in single circle, ca. 0.3 cbd long, located on lip region usually near
Ocelli not observed.
Amphidial fovea circular with lightly cuticularized outline, ca. 0.5 cbd from anterior end.
Buccal cavity funnel-shaped, with lightly cuticularized walls, 5-7 um deep x 4 um wide.
Pharynx cylindrical, muscular, without posterior bulb, lumen not cuticularised; nerve ring at ca. 65% of pharynx length ; secretory-excretory
system pore at 16-18% of pharyngeal length; renette cell large, located posterior to pharynx.
Cardia small, partially surrounded by intestine;

	Females: Monodelphic;gonad to the right of the intestine. Body narrows posterior to vulva. Vulva located at about 60% of body length Tail conical, terminated with a conical spinneret.
Halomonhystera refringens A) male pharyngeal region; B) female cephalic region; C) female posterior body; D) male posterior body Scale bar: A = 35 um, B = 20 um, C = 40 um, D = 30 um Drawings from Leduc, 2025.

Males: Monorchic. testis mainly outstretched on right of intestine Spicules slender, arcuate, distally pointed, proximally 2 cbd long Gubernaculum without apophyses, surrounding spicules distally Three precloacal papillae, two postcloacal Tail conical with three caudal galnds and spinneret Ref. Leduc, 2025
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

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Distribution:

Cosmopolitan. Reported from filamentous algae and goose barnacles on a DART buoy near New Zeakland. Also reported from the North Sea, Chile, Washington coast, Japan and the Yellow Sea of China (Leduc, 2025).

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Economic Importance:

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Feeding:

Non-selective deposit feeders, diatom remains observed in intetine (Leduc, 2025)

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Biology and Ecology:

Deep ocean free-living nematodes. Often associated with habitats and structures that facilitate long distance distribution.

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Life Cycle:

Probably sexually reproducing.

Ecophysiological Parameters:

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:

Heip, C., Vincx, M., Vranken, G. 1985. The ecology of marine nematodes. Oceanography and marine biology. Ann Rev Lond 23:399-489

Leduc, D. 2025. New and known free-living nematode species (Nematoda: Chromadorea) from offshore tsunami monitoring buoys in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. PeerJ DOI 10.7717/peerj.19789

Tchesunov, A.V. 2015. Free-living nematode species (Nematoda) in hydrothermal sites of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Helgoland Marine Research 69:343-384.

Tchesunov, A.V., Portnova, D.A,, and van Campenhout, J. 2015 Description of two free-living nematode species of Halomonhystera disjuncta complex (Nematoda: Monhysterida) from two peculiar habitats in the sea. Helgol Mar Res 69:57-85. doi:10.1007/ s10152-014-0416-

Zekely, J,, Sorensen, M,, Bright, M. 2006 Three new nematode species (Monhysteridae) from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Meiofauna Marina 15:25-42

Halomonhystera refringens

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