Oxydirus		Contents		Rev 06/16/2023
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Oxydirus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Swangeriidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Type species of the genus: Oxydirus oxycephaloides (de Man, 1921) Thorne, 1939

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Body length 1-4 mm, slender
• Cuticle with fine transverse striations
• Lip region continuous with body contour; lips amalgamated, somewhat asymmetrical
• Odontostyle short, dorylaimoid or fusiform, spindle-shaped
• Guiding ring simple
• Expanded part of esophagus about half the total length, covered with a dextrally-spiral muscular sheath
• Prerectum long
• Tail long, filiform in both sexes.

In Oxydirus gigus the muscular spiral sheath surrounding the enlarged basal part of the esophagus spirals in a sinistral direction, whereas in O. oxycephaloides and O. gangeticus it is dextral (Hechler, 1969).

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Distribution:

Species are found in soil and freshwater and distributed worldwide.

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Feeding:

  Classified as plant feeders and possibly omnivores (Yeates et al., 1993).   

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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.

Botha, A., Heyns, J. 1993. Species of the genera Oxydirus, Dorylaimellus (Axodorylaimellus), Laimydorus and Rhabdolaimus from rivers in the Kruger National Park (Nematoda: Dorylaimida and Araeolaimida). Koedoe 36:49-60. doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v36i1.361

Hechler, H.C. 1969. Variability of the Basal Esophageal Sheath in Belondirid Nematodes. Journal of Nematology 1:160-165.

Thorne, G. 1939. A monograph of the nematodes of the superfamily Dorylaimoidea. Capita Zool. 8: 1-263.

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: June 16, 2023.