Heliconema

Heliconema	Contents	Rev: 02/18/2025
	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Heliconema Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Physopteridae Menu	Feeding	References
	Go to Nemaplex Main Menu	Go to Dictionary of Terminology

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:

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.