Acantholaimus		Contents		Rev: 12/15/2022
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Acantholaimus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Chromadoridae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Chromadoria

   Chromadorida

    Chromadoridae

Subfamily Spilipherinae

       Acantholaimus Allgen, 1933

A species-rich genus of free-living marine nematodes from deep-sea habitats.

Type species of the genus: Acantholaimus longisetosus Allgen, 1933

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

•  Head sensilla arranged in three rings, posterior two being almost at same level.
• Body cuticle punctate, with transverse rows of dots; lateral differentiation may be present as enlarged dots arranged irregularly, or more sparsely, or in transverse or longitudinal rows.
• Amphidial fovea large, round with interrupted posterior rim or nearly comma-shaped.
• Buccal cavity armed with three or more solid teeth, teeth minute or large, often eversible. Twelve cuticular rod-shaped rugae in cheilostom.
• Tail long, filiform.

Ref: Miljutin and Miljutina (2016)

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Distribution:

Marine nematodes. Acantholaimus species apparently are widespread in the World's oceans. Many species of Acantholaimus seem to be cosmopolitan. the species are mainly inhabitants of the deep-sea and, therefore, have not been able to use shallow-water currents or migrating animals for their dispersal. Consequently, Miljutin et al (2013) propose that these are very old species that have slowly migrated throughout the oceans. There are more than 50 known species (Miljutin and Miljutina, 2016).

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Feeding:

Because of their large stoma equipped with onchia, Acantholaimus species are normally classified as  epistrate feeders, scavengers and predators. Often there are organic and inorganic particles in thwe intestine (Miljutin and Miljutina, 2016).

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Biology and Ecology:

Often in muddy sediments, perhaps using the long tail for anchorage.

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Life Cycle:

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Allgen C.A. 1933. Freilebende Nematoden aus dem Trondhjemsfjord. Capita Zoologica 4, 1–162.

Miljutina, M. A.., Miljutin, D.M., Tchesunov, A.V. 2013. Seven Acantholaimus (Chromadoridae: Nematoda) species from one deep-sea sediment sample (Angola Basin, south-east Atlantic). J. Marine Biol Assoc U.K. 93:935-953.

Miljutina, M. A.., Miljutin, D.M., 2016. Review of Acantholaimus Allgen, 1933 (Nematoda: Chromadoridae), a genus of marine free-living nematodes, with a tabular key to species. Nematology 18:537-558.

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: December 15, 2022.