Ironus		Contents		Rev: 02/22/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ironus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Ironidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Enoplea

  Enoplia
        Enoplida

            Ironina

                Ironoidea

                    Ironidae

Ironus  Bastian, 1865

Type species of the genus Ironus ignavus Bastian, 1965

    Synonyms:

Cephalonema Cobb, 1893

Nanonema Cobb, 1905

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Stoma elongate, cylindrical, tubiform, cuticularized walls, surrounded buy 3 lips at the anterior opening. Six inner labial papillae surrounding stoma opening, six outer labial papillae, 4 cephalic setae Stoma armed either anteriorly with three large movable claw-like teeth. Amphid apertures stirrup=shaped Esophagus cylindrical widening near base, esophageal glands open anteriorly near the stoma. Body cavity often packed with crystalloid particles. Tail tapering to an elongate point. Females usually with two ovaries. Males when present have paired spicules and a small gubernaculum. Male with a single supplement ellevated on a papilla or seta. Caudal glands and spinneret  absent. Primarily inhabit freshwater and moist soil. Feed as predators. Ref: Argo and Heryns, 1972; Shokoohi et al., 2013; Girgan et al., 2021

Anterior of Ironus ernsti, including en face views of stoma and teeth. Drawings from Argo and Heyns (1972)

Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

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Distribution:

Mainly freshwater systems, freshwater sediments and sometimes moist soils.

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Feeding:

Generalist predator of nematodes and small organisms (Yeates et al., 1993; Shokoohi et al., 2013).

The anterior of the esophagus surrounds the elngate stoma.  Three sets of protractor muscles within the esophageal wall can move the teeth independently for capture and ingestion of prey (Coomans and van der Heiden, 1978).

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

As in the Dorylaimida, the teeth (or tooth = odontostyle in Dorylaimida) are replaced during molting.  The replacement teeth are formed during the previous life stage in the region 1-2 lip widths behind the functional teeth (Coomans and van der Heiden, 1978).

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Predators; regulation of opportunistic species.

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Management:

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References:

• Andrassy, I. 2007. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary II.  Hungarian Natural History Museum. 496pp.
• Argo. A-D., and Heyns, J. 1972. Four new species of the genus Ironus Bastian, 1865 (Nematoda: Ironidae) from South Africa. Phytophylactica 4:59-66.
• Coomans, A. and Van der Heiden, A. 1978. The systematic position of the family Ironidae and its relation to the Dorylaimida. Ann. Soc. R. Zool Belg. 108:5-11.
• Girgan, C., Shokoohi, E., Marais, M., Fourie, H., Tiedt, L., Swart, A. 2021. Description of Ironus telperionensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Ironidae) and two known species of Chronogaster (Nematoda: Chronogastridae) and Paraphanolaimus (Nematoda: Aphanolaimidae) from the Telperion Nature Reserve (Mpumalanga, South Africa). Nematology 23: 939-962
• Goodey, T and J.B. Goodey, 1963. Soil and Freshwater Nematodes. Methuen. London
• Maggenti, A.R. 1981.  General Nematology. Springer Verlag, New York.

• Shokoohi, E., Mehrabi-Nasab, A., Abolafia, J. 2013. Studies on Ironus Bastian, 1865 (Enoplida: Ironidae from Iran with a comment on its phylogenetic position. Nematology 15:835-849.

• 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

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: February 22, 2024.