Pneumoatractis		Contents		Rev: 11/04/2024
		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Pneumoatractis Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Atractidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

Chromadoria

Rhabditida

Spirurina

Cosmocercoidea

Atractidae

                          Pneumoatractis Bursey, Reavill & Greiner, 2009

Type species of the genus:  Pneumoatractis podocnemis Bursey, Reavill & Greiner, 2009

    Synonyms:
     

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Morphology and Anatomy:

• Small, white nematodes; cuticle with fine transverse striations. Body elongate, with slender, fine-pointed tail.
•  Mouth with 3 distinct lips: 1 dorsal, 2 sublateral; dorsal lip bearing 2 papillae, each sublateral lip with 1 papilla and 1 amphid.
• Short conical cavity at base of lips leading into esophagus.
•  Esophagus with anterior inflated muscular corpus, and posterior isthmus ending in well-developed valvular bulb.
• Nerve ring at junction of corpus and isthmus.
• Excretory pore large, posterior to esophageal bulb.
• Anterior half of intestine straight, narrow; posterior half of intestine with scalloped outline; rectum a simple tube.
• Narrow lateral alae present in both males and females. 

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Distribution:

Type species was described  from a yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) that died at the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois after being confiscated from an illegal shipment of wild-caught turtles from South America. A rod-shaped bacteriou in tissue sections of the turtle was interpreted as the cause of death (Bursey et al., 2009).

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Feeding:

Parasites of the lungs.

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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:

Bursey, C.R., Reavill, D., Greiner, E. 2009. Pneumoatractis podocnemis n. gen., n. sp. (Nematoda: Atractidae) from the Yellow-Spotted Amazon River Turtle, Podocnemis unifilis (Testudines: Pelomedusidae). Comp. Parasitol.
76(2):149-153

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: November 04, 2024.