Astomonema		Contents		Rev: 06/26/2023
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Astomonema Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Siphonolaimidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Chromadoria

   Monhysterida

Monhysterina

Siphonolaimoidea

                Siphonolaimidae

Astomonematinae

      Astomonema Ott, Rieger, Rieger & Enderes, 1982

Type species of the genus: Astomonema jenneri Ott, Rieger, Rieger & Enderes, 1982

    Synonyms:

Rhaptothyreus Hope and Murphy, 1969

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Morphology and Anatomy:

 Marine nematodes.

• Body long and slender
• Cuticle finel striated
• Mouthless nematodes
• Head rounded with 0+6+4 (inner labial, outer labial, cervical) sensilla.
• Amphids circular
• Esophagus only visible in juvenile stages
• Mouth opening, esophagus, intestine and anus absent in adult specimens
• Anterior of body vacuolated
• Rudimentary intestine filled with procaryotic symbionts

Ref: Fonseca and Bezerra (2014), Vidakovic and Boucher (1987)

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Distribution:

Populations of different species described from sublittoral assemblages  in the upper 5 cm of sandy-silt sediment in the English Channel and Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean (Vidakovic and Boucher, 1987). However, A. southwardorum is described from a methane seep area in the North Seat (Austen et al., 1993).

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Feeding:

Bacterial endosymbionts

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Austen, M.C., Warwick, R.M. & Ryan, K.P. 1993. Astomonema southwardorum sp. nov., a gutless nematode dominant in a methane seep area in the North Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73: 627 - 634.

Fonseca, G., Bezerra, T.M. 2014. 7.14 Order Monhysterida in A. Schmidt-Rhaesa. Handbook of Zoology, Gastrotricha, Cycloneuralia and Gnathifers, Vol 2. Nematoda. De Gruyter, Berlin. 759p

Vidakovic, J., Boucher, G. 1987. Gutless marine nematodes of the genus Astomonema Ott et al., 1982. Cah. Biol. Mar. 28:111-120

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: June 26, 2023.