Graphonema antarcticum

Graphonema antarcticum	Contents	Rev: 03/06/2026
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Graphonema 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: Euchromadorinae
Graphonema antarcticum Shimada, Tsujimoto & Watanabe, 2019

    Synonyms:

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Characterized by:

Large body size (>= 2mm)
Truncated cephalic end
Cuticle coarsly annulated, heterogeneous with tiny punctations in anterior cephalic region; regularly hexagonal fromo posterior half of cephalic region to anterior 1/3 of pharynx; longitudinally elongated hexagonal from anterior 1/3 of pharynx to cloacal region and longer toward posterior end;
regularly hexagonal in caudal region
Lateral differentiation from anterior 1/3 of pharyngeal region to cloacal region, becoming wider posteriorly.
Cephalic region not set-off, anteriorly truncated
at anterior end
Buccal cavity in two sections, cup-shaped cheilostome with a circle of twelve tooth-like rugae;and conical esophastome with a large dorsal onchium, two smaller ventrosublateral onchia, and four minute ventrosublateral teeth. No denticles.
Pharynx anteriorly surrounding esophastome, without posterior terminal bulb. Ventral gland cell posterior to base of pharynx
Long tail in both sexes, approximately 4-6 cbd in males and 6-9 abd in females

Females:

Didelphic-amphidelphic, ovaries opposed and reflexed: anterior ovary on right side, posterior on left
Vulva situated slightly anterior to mid-body.
Tail 6-9 abd long,

Ref: Shimada et al., 2019

Males:

Monorchic, testis outstretched on right of intestine.
Spicules long, (1.3-1.6 cbd), without capitulum,
Gubernaculum well-developed with L-shaped lateral pieces bending at an obtuse angle with minute denticles at distal end,
Tail length 4-6 cbd

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

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Distribution:

Described from surface macroalgae in LÃ¼tzow-Holm Bay, Antarctica

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Feeding:

Epistrate, microbes

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

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:

Shimada, D., Tsujimoto, M., Watanabe, K. 2019. A new free-living marine nematode species of the genus Graphonema (Nematoda: Chromadorida: Chromadoridae) from Antarctica. Species Diversity 24: 61–67

Graphonema antarcticum

Copyright 1999 by Howard Ferris. Revised: March 06, 2026.

Copyright 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: March 06, 2026.