Heliconema

Heliconema	Contents	Rev: 05/12/2025
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Heliconema Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Physalopteridae Menu	Feeding	References
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Classification:

Chromadorea
Chromadoria
Rhabditida: Spirurina
Physalopteroidea
Physalopteridae

Heliconema Travassos, 1919

Type species of the genus: Heliconema heliconema Travassos, 1919

Synonyms:

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Head cuticle reflected to form a cephslic collar
Mouth opening elongate oval with 2 lateral lips, each with a median conical tooth and a small subdorsal and subventral tooth on inner surface; also, each lip has two submedian papillae and a lateral amphid.
Esophagus with short mucular anterior and a longglandular posterior.
Cervical papillae at level of nerve ring, at the anterior end of the body, with the excretory pore slightly posterior to them.

Female:

Didelphic-amphidelphic.
Vulva at mid-body, sometimes with elevated lips.

Male:

Ventral surface tesselated with longitudinal ridges posterior to cloaca
Caudal alaer not meeting anterior to cloaca, supported by precloacal and postcloacal pedunculate papillae

Ref: Ogden, 1969

Body size range for the species of this genus in the database - Click:

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Distribution:

Type speies described from Echidna catenata from Brazil. Other species from Dakar, Senegal.

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Heliconema

Parasites of fish and mammals.

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Biology and Ecology:

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Life Cycle:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this genus, click

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Ogden, C.G. 1969. A revision of the genus Heliconema Travassos, 1919, Physalopteridae (Nematoda). Journal of Natural History, 3:423-431.

Travassos, L. 1919. Infomacoes sobro o Material helminthologico collecionado na Ilha da Trinidade em 1916. Arch. Mus. New. Rio de Janeiro, 22: 161-167.