Trachactinolaimus nanjingensis

Trachactinolaimus nanjingensis	Contents	Rev 09/16/2026
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Trachactinolaimus Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Actinolaimidae Menu	Feeding	References
	Go to Nemaplex Main Menu	Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Enoplea

Dorylaimia
Dorylaimida

Actinolaimidae

Trachactinolaimus nanjingensis Zhang, Ji., Guo, Qing & Li, 2023.

Morphology and Anatomy:

Females:

Body cylindrical, tapering gradually towards both extremities
Cuticle smooth, three-layered: thin outer layer, thick center layer and thin inner layer; two dorsal and two ventral body pores in odontostyle region.
Lips amalgamated, labial papillae button-like, cephalic papillae larger. Lip region rounded, offset by a weak depression, 3.0 times as wide as high
Amphids stirrup-shaped, with apertures aabout 50% of corresponding body width.
Cheilostom with four onchia; numerous mural denticles on cheilostom walls (>100), irregularly arranged. Vestibular ring corrugated with 18-
24 prongs around oral opening.
Odontostyle length about 4times width, with apertur 33% of its length. Odontophore simple, rod-like, about 95% of odontostyle length. Guiding ring
double.
Pharynx with slender, muscular anterior that enlarges gradually into a well-muscled posterior with 5 pharyngeal glands.
Nerve ring located at 20% of pharynx length. Cardia conical,.
Didelphic-amphidelphic, with both branches equal; ovaries reflexed; oocytes first in three or more rows, then a single row. Uterus simple without Z-differentiation,containing spindle-shaped sperm; spermatheca present.
Vulva with a transverse slit, located at mid-body.
Prerectum 4-5 anal body widths long; rectum 2 anal body widths long.
Tail rather uniformly tapered to ia sharp. Four pairs of caudal pores in anterior half of tail, two subdorsal and two subventral.

Males:

Spicules dorylaimoid and slender, 1.5 cbd long; dorsal contour with prominent hump; lateral guiding
piece tapering to sharply pointed end.
One pair of cloacal supplements, 15-19 contiguous ventromedian supplements ending 60 um from cloacal opening.
Tail at first convex-conoid dorsally, then suddenly tapering to a straight, elongate portion with a pointed tip

Ref: Zhang et al., 20223

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

Distribution:

Described from moss and soil samples from the Yangshan Quarry Park in Nanjing, China.

Feeding:

Categorized by Yeates et al., 1993 as a predator and omnivore.

Life Cycle:

Sexually reproducing based on presence of males and spindle-shaped sperm in spermathecae.

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:

Regulation of opportunistic species; nutrient cycling.

References:

Andrassy, 1. 1959. Neubenennungen einiger homonymen Nematoden-Gattungen. Nematologica, 4:223-226

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

Zhang, Q., Ji, H., Guo, F., Qing, X., Li, H. 2023. Morphological and molecular characterisation of Trachactinolaimus nanjingensis n. sp. (Dorylaimida: Actinolaimidae) from Nanjing, China. Nematology 25:307-320.

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