Orientatractis hamabatrachos

Orientatractis hamabatrachos	Contents	Rev 10/10/2022
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Orientatractis Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Atractidae Menu	Feeding	References
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Spirurina

Cosmocercoidea

Atractidae

Orientatractis hamabatrachos Bursey, Goldberg & Kraus 2014

Morphology and Anatomy:

Small fusiform nematodes, body more or less cylindrical along its length;
Both males and females with long, thin tails.
Cuticle with longitudinal striations.
Lateral alae present beginning just posterior to lips and terminating near tail midpoint in both males and females.
Head bluntly rounded; mouth terminal, funnel shaped, with 6 lips, 4 submedian lips each lip with a 1 papilla and a bicornuate, sclerotized structure (2 recurved pointed spines with fused root), and 2 lateral lips, each supporting 1 large amphid with a pair of small sclerotized spines lateral to the amphidial pore.
Esophagus divided into anterior muscular portion and posterior glandular portion, terminating in a prominent valved bulb.
Nerve ring just posterior to junction of esophageal regions.
Excretory pore at mid point of glandular esophageal portion.



Males: Length 3.2-4.4mm. Gubernaculum cylindrical, Spicules unequal, pointed distal tips, transversely striated, left spicule longer than right. Posterior half of body most often in 3-4 tight coils. Eight pairs of caudal papillae plus 1 unpaired papilla on midline just anterior to cloaca: 2 pairs precloacal, 1 pair adcloacal; 5 pairs post cloacal, 2 pairs posterior to cloaca, 2 ventrolateral pairs	Female: Vulva opens close to anus. Vagina short; monodelphic, single ovary near mid-body. Eggs in various stages of development present in anterior portion of uterus; Viviparous. hatched larvae present often filling uterus. Phasmids open near posterior end of lateral alae Ref: Bursey et al., 2014
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

Feeding:

Species O. hamabatrachos is an intestinal parasite of frogs (Austrochaperina basipalmata; Anura: Microhylidae) in New Guinea (Bursey et al., 2014).

Members of the Atractidae are unusual in that eggs hatch and larvae develop to third stage in utero to autoinfect the current host (Anderson 2000). Their transmission from host to host is not understood. The life cycles of Orientatractis and Rondonia have not been determined, however Costa (1962) believed that larvae of Rondonia (previously known only from fish) pass from the host to infect other fish directly. Petter (1966) claimed that tortoises became infected only after attaining sexual maturity and wondered if transmission occurred during mating.

Ecophysiological Parameters:

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

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Bursey, C.R., Goldberg, S.R., Kraus, F. 2014. New species of Orientatractis (Nematoda: Atractidae), new species of Orientatractis (Nematoda: Atractidae) and other helminths in Austrochaperina basipalmata (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea. Acta Parasitologica 59:115-121..