Aporcelinus itecrii

Aporcelinus itecrii	Contents	Rev 12/17/2023
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Aporcelinus Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Aporcelaimidae Menu	Feeding	References
	Go to Nemaplex Main Menu	Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Enoplea

Dorylaimia
Dorylaimida

Aporcelaimidae

Aporcelinus itecrii Pena-Santiago & Varela-Benavides, 2018

The specific epithet is an acronym of Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica, the institution that supported this study and the home institute of the junior author.

Morphology and Anatomy:

Moderately slender (a = 24-26) nematodes, small to medium size, 0.98-1.42 mm long.
Body cylindrical, tapering toward both ends, but more so toward the posterior extremity as the tail is conical.
Cuticle two-layered, 1-2 um thick at anterior region, 1.5-2.5 um in mid-body, and 3-5 um on tail; outer layer thin, bearing very fine transverse striation' Inner cuticle layer thicker and more refractive than the outer one, especially perceptible at caudal region.
Lateral chord 4-5.5 um wide, occupying 8-14% of mid-body diameter. Body pores obscure.
Lip region moderately angular, offset by a weak constriction, 2.3-2.8 times as wide as high, less than 28-32% of body diam at neck base; lips moderately separate, with protruding papillae.
Amphid fovea funnel-like, opening about one half lip region diameter. Cheilostom a truncate cone as long as wide, with no specialization.
Odontostyle strong, longer (1.1-1.3 times) than lip region diam. 1.14-1.33% of total body length; aperture less than one half odontostyle length. Guiding ring simple but distinct, located at 0.5-0.7 times the lip region diameter from the anterior end.
Odontophore rod-like, 1.6-1.7 times the odontostyle length.
Pharynx with a slender but muscular anterior section gradually enlarging, and a posterior expansion about 6.5 times as long as wide, occupying less than one half of total neck length; gland nuclei and their outlets obscure in the specimens examined
Nerve ring located at 37% of total neck length from the anterior end.
Pharyngo-intestinal junction surrounded by a delicate ring-like structure with a small dorsal lobe; cardia conical, 11.5-15 x 9.5-10.5 um. A dorsal cell mass a short distance behind the pharyngo-intestinal junction
Tail similar in both sexes, conical with finely rounded tip: ventrally nearly straight, dorsally first convex and then bearing a variably marked dorsal concavity, in male appearing distinctly more bent dorsad than in female; inner core extending up to one half of tail length; .

Female:

Didelphic-amphidelphic, with both branches equally sized,
Ovaries very variable in length, reflexed, sometimes beyondg the oviduct-uterus junction.
Oviduct and uterus separated by a weak sphincter.
Vagina extending inwards less than one half body diameter, pars proximalis with slightly sigmoid walls surrounded by weak circular musculature, pars refringens consisting of two trapezoidal pieces and pars distalis with (in lateral view) two pairs of sclerotized pieces.
Vulva a transverse slit

Ref: Pena-Santiago and Varela-Benavides, 2018

Males:

Diorchic, with opposed testes. Sperm ovoid, small,
Adcloacal pair of ventromedian supplements and\ six more regularly spaced, 15-19 um apart, the two most posterior of them within the range of spicules.
Spicules curved ventrad, 4-6 times longer than wide and 1.7 times longer than cloacal body diam.
Lateral guiding piece 15.5 um long.

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

Distribution:

Reported from pre-montane tropical forest in Costa Rica.

Life Cycle:

Ecophysiological Parameters:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click	If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters

Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Predators and regulators of opportunistic species.

References:

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

Pena-Santiago, R. 2021. Dorylaimida Mundi (Nematoda); checklist of genera and species, with their records. UJA Editorial. 957p.

Pena-Santiago, R. and Varela-Benavides, I. 2018. Phylogeny of the genus Aporcelinus Andrassy, 2009 (Nematoda: Dorylaimida: Aporcelaimidae) with description of two new species from Costa Rica. J Zool Syst Evol Res. 57::240-257.

Pena-Santiago, R., Abolafia, J., .Nguyen, T.A.D., Alvarez-Ortega, S., Varela-Benavides, I. 2019. General morphology and updated taxonomy of the genus Aporcelinus Andrassy, 2009 (Dorylaimida: Aporcelaimidae). Nematology 21:857-874.

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.