Family Hethidae

Revised 12/12/24

Type genus of the family: Heth Cobb, 1898

• A family of nematode parasites of millipedes.

In recent taxonomies, based almost entirely on morphological characters, the Hethidae is classified as a family within the infrorder Rhigonematomorpha. The Rhigonematomorpha is considered to consist of two superfamilies, each consisting of three families:

Superfamily Rhigonematoidea

Rhigonematidae

Ichthyocephalidae

Xustromatidae

 Superfamily Ransomnematoidea

Carnoyidae

Hethidae

Ransomnematidae

Diagnosis of Hethidae:

• Monoxenous parasites of diplopods.
• Sexually dimorphic in the cephalic and cervical regions.
•  Esophagus with a long, tubular procorpus, distinct isthmus and valvate basal bulb.
• Female with complex, well developed lateral pseudolabia and cervical ornamentation of varying type and complexity.
• Vulva located posteriorly near the anus. Didelphic, prodelphic, anteriorly directed and with a common uterus.
• Eggs thin shelled.
• Male without the pseudolabia and cervical ornamentation of the female.
•  Spicules fused except for a short distance proximally; gubernaculum broad and trough-like.
• Copulatory papillae typically 15 in number.
• Preanal midventral sucker present.

Ref: Hunt, 1994

Note:  miilipedes are group of arthropods characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they constitute the Class Diplopoda.of Phylum Arthropoda.

References

Adamson, M.L. 1983.The genus Ransomnema Artigas, 1926 (Rhigonematidae) in South American diplopods. Systematic Parasitol. 5: 119-129.

Adamson, M.L., Vanwaerebeke. D. 1985. The Rhigonematida (Nematoda) of Diplopods : reclassification and its cladistic representation. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp. 60: 685-702..

Adamson, M.L. 1983. .Redescriptions of five species of Heth Cobb, 1898 (Rhigonematidae: Nematoda) from South American diplopods. Systematic Parasitology 5:185-202.

Cobb, N. A. 1898. Extract from MS report on the parasites of stock. Agricultural Gazwette of New South Wales 9:296-321, 419-454

Hunt, D.J. 1994. A synopsis of the Hethidae (Nematoda: Rhigonematida) with descriptions of five new species of Heth Cobb, 1898 from diplopods from Papua New Guinea. Russian J. Nematology 2:15-

Hunt, D.J., Sutherland, J.A. 1984. Ichthyocephaloides dasyacanthus n.g., n.sp. (Nematoda: Rhigonematoidea) from a millipede from Papua New Guinea. Systematic Parasitology 6:141-146.

Hunt, D.J. Luc, P.V., Spiridov, S.E. 2002. Bizarre Ichthyocephalidae (Nematoda: Rhigonematida) from Vietnam with description of Ichthyocephaloides comatus sp. n., Xystrognathus priscus gen. n., sp. n. and X. phrissus gen. n., sp. n.. Nematology 4:829-843.

Zhang, Y., Wang, L-D, Hasgawa, K., Nagae, S., Chen, H-X, Li L-W., Li, L. 2022. Parasites & Vectors 15:427 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05544-9

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