Anoplostoma		Contents		Rev: 04/29/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Anoplostoma Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Anoplostomatidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Enoplea

  Enoplia
        Enoplida

            Enoplina

                Enoploidea

                   Anoplostomatidae

Anophostomatinae

Anoplostoma Butschli, 1874

Type species of the genus: Anoplostoma viviparum (Bastian, 1865) Butschli, 1874

    Synonyms:

Sympocostoma viviparum Bastian, 1865

Back to Top

Morphology and Anatomy:

• Three lips, each with short inner and outer labial sensilla.
• Six longer outer labial setae and four cephalic setae in separate rings around head region.
• Large, toothless, cylindrical buccal cavity surounded in the psoterior region by esophageal tissue
• Amphidial fovea pocket-shaped, posterior to buccal cavity.
• Esophagus muscular throughout length, esophageal gland openings just posterior to buccal cavity.
• Males diorchic, testes ourstretched.
• Male bursa with posterior spines
• Females didelphic, ovaries reflexed, on laft side of intestine.
• Tail anteriorly conical, becoming long and flagellum-like posteriorly.

Species of the genus are morpholgically quite similar and separated principally by morphometric chracteristics.

Ref: Tchesunov and Thanh, 2010; Smol et al., 2014

Anoplostoma spp, examples of male head and posterior regions. Drawings from Tchesunov and Thanh, 2020	Anoplostoma tumidum: female anterior and buccal cavity. Scale bar = 10 um Photomicrograph from Li and Guo, 2016

Back to Top

Distribution:

Free-living marine nematodes.  Several species described from intertidal mud sediments associated with mangroves (e.g. A. nhatrangensis, A. paraviviparum, A. tumidum).

Back to Top

Feeding:

Back to Top

Biology and Ecology:

Back to Top

Life Cycle:

Back to Top

Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Back to Top

Management:

Back to Top

References:

Bastian, H.C. 1865. Monograph on the Anguillulidae, or free nematoids, marine, land and freshwater; with descriptions of 100 new species.  Trans. Linn. Soc. London 25:73-184.

Butschli, O. 1874. Zur Kenntnis der freilebenden Nematoden, , insbesondere der des Kieler Hafens. Abhandlungen der Senchenbergischen Naturforschen Geselischaft Bd. 9. S.236-292,

Smol, N., Muthumbi, A., Sharma, J. 2014. Order Enoplida, 7.3. In Schmidt-Rhaesa, A. (ed) Handbook of Zoology. De Gruyter, Berlin

Tchesunov, A.V. and Thanh, N.V. 2010. A. desription of Anoplostoma nhatrangensis sp.n. from magrove habitatas of Nha Trang, Central Vietnam, with a review of the genus Anoplostoma Butschli, 1874 (Nematoda: Enoplida). Invert. Zool. 7:93-105.

Li, Y., Guo, Y. 2016. Two New Free-Living Marine Nematode Species of the Genus Anoplostoma (Anoplostomatidae) from the Mangrove Habitats of Xiamen Bay, East China Sea. J. Ocean Univ. China DOI 10.1007/s11802-016-2896-x

Back to Top

Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: April 29, 2024.