Ironella		Contents		Rev: 08/23/2025
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Ironella 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

Ironella  Cobb, 1920

Type species of the genus: Ironella prismatolaima Cobb, 1920

    Synonyms:

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Most species have been poorly describes or based on few specimems. Ironella gracilis provides a more detailed listing of characteristics.:

• Body slender,
• Buccal cavity large, divided into conical vestibulum and cylindrical posterior portion with three sclerotized teeth in the vestibulum,
• Six inner labial setae and circles of outer labial setae and cephalic setae.
• Pharynx expanded around buccal cavity and forming an anterior bulb, then narrowing to cylindrical and slightly swelling at its base but not forming posterior bulb. Cardia small, conical.
• Excretory pore situated at the level of outer labial setae.
• Tail clavate, about 6 cbd long, with  proximal half conical and distal half  cylindrical. Tail tip slightly swelling without terminal seta.

Males:

• Spicules elongated, weakly arched, with central strip and cephalate proximally
• Gubernaculum conical without apophysis,
• Precloacal supplement tubular, just anterior to cloaca and with a long thick seta at its front end.
•  Caudal glands precloacal.

Females:

• Didelphic, ovaries reflexed and opposed; the anterior ovary somewhat shorter than the posterior one, both on left side of the intestine.
• Vulva raised, located in the mid-body

Ref: Ban et al., 2023

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Distribution:

Ironella gracilis described from intertidal fine sands in the Yellow Sea, China. I cobbi (from females only, Atlantic Shore, USA; I prismatolaima (from males, only) Atlantic Shore, USA; I riemanniin the Elbe estuary and the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea (Ban et al., 2023).

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Ironella

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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:

Ban, S.; Sun, J.; Huang, Y. Three New Species of Free-Living Marine Nematodes of the Order Enoplida Filipjev, 1929 (Nematoda) from the Yellow Sea, China. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11, 2202. https:// doi.org/10.3390/jmse11112202

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: August 23, 2025.