Labronema		Contents		Rev 02/22/2021
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Labronema Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Dorylaimidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Moved to Dorylaimidae: Labronematinae with other round-tailed genera, by Pena-Santiago and Alvarez-Ortega (2014).

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Large nematodes, 1 to 6 mm.
• Cuticle thick, often finel striated.
• Lip region offset; 6 lips and 6 inner liplets.
• Odontostyle thich, as long or longer than labial width, with aperture 1/3 to 1/2 of length.
• Guiding ring double.
• Anterior part of esophagus strong.
• Female diovarial, amphidelphic; vulva a longitudinal slit with sclerotized lips or pore-like..
• Males common, with dorylaimoid spicules.  Ventromedian supplements contiguous, 14 to 36.
• Tail short, conoid rounded to hemispherical in both sexes.
• Males unknown in about 40% of species.

Ref. Andrassy, 2009, 2011.

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Distribution:

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Feeding:

Feed as predators on other nematodes.  Classified as predator and omnivore by Yeates et al. (2009).

Wood (1973) observed Labronema sp. feeding and reproducing on algae and moss in tissue culture.

Click on button below to view movie of Labronema feeding on nematodes.

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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:

Andrassy, I. 2009. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary III.  Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. 608p.

Andrassy, I. 2011. Three new bisexual species of Labronema Thorne, 1939 (Nematoda: Qudsianematidae). Opusc. Zool. Budapest 42:107�120.

Pena-Santiago, R. and S. Alvarez-Ortega. 2014. An integrative approach to assess the phylogeny and the systematics of rounded-tailed genera of the subfamily Qudsianematinae (Nematoda, Dorylaimida). Zoologica Scripta 43:418-428.

Wood, F.H. 1973. Nematode feeding relationships: Feeding relationships of soil-dwelling nematodes. Soil Riol. Biochem. 5: 593-601.

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

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: February 22, 2021.