Subfamily Nygellinae

Revised 06/16/23

Enoplea

           Dorylaimida

                 Nygolaimina

        Nygolaimoidea

                         Nygellidae

Nygellinae Andrassy, 1958

   

Medium size, under 2 mm long. Cuticle thin and with fine transverse striations. Lip region continuous with body contour; lips amalgamated. Spear a mural tooth.  Cheilostom simple. Expanded basal portion of the esophagus surrounded by a conspicuous spiral sheath. Esophago-intestinal junction with three cardiac cells. Female genital system monodelphic, opisthodelphic. Vagina without sclerotized pars refringens vaginae. Vulva a transverse slit. Female tail clavate. Male unknown.
Ref. Pena-Santiago (2006)

Ahmad and Jairajpuri, 1981 indicated that the presence of cardiac glands and a mural tooth were more important characteristics of Nygolaimoidea than the spiral sheath around the baseal portion of the esophagus because the spural sheath occurs in some other dorylaims.

Classified as predators (Yeates et al, 1993).

A note on the authority for the subamily Nygellinae

Andrassy (1958) proposed the subfamily Nygellinae in a publication that is not well known, written in Hungarian, and focussed on the Hungarian fauna (see images below).

Images provided by Dr. Reyes Pena-Santiago, December 2021

Jairajpuri (1964), apparently unaware of Andrassy's paper, proposed a new family Nygellidae and a new subfamily Nygellinae. The new family and subfamily accommodated the single genus, Nygellus. Heyns (1982) and Ahmad and Jairajpuri (1981), also apparently unaware of the Andrassy (1958) document, agreed with the designation of Jairajpuri, 1964 as authority for Nygellidae although Siddiqi(1968) considered the family name invalid.  In his 2009 book,

Andrassy clearly indicated that he was the authority for both Nygellinae and Nygellidae and did not mention Jairaqjpuri in that regard.

Please see a detailed explanation of the correct authorship of the Nygellinae and Nygellidae on the family Nygellidae page

References

Ahmad, M.  and Jairajpuri, M.S. 1981. .Notes on the systematic position of the genus Nygellus Thorne, 1939. Indian J. Nematology 11:114-115.

Andrássy, I. 1958. Szabadonélö fonalfergek Nematoda libera. Fauna Hungarica 36 III Kötot, 1 Füzet. Magyarorszag Allatvilaga, Budapest. 362 pp.

Andrassy, I. 2009. Free-living Nematodes of Hungary III.  Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest. 608p.

Heyns, J. 1968. A monographic study of the nematode families Nygolaimidae and Nygolaimellidae. Republic of South Africa Entomology Memoirs 19.

Heyns, J. 1982. On the authority for the family Nygellidae. Nematologica 28:452-453.

Jairajpuri, M.S. 1964. Studies on Nygellidae n. fam. and Belondiridae Thorne, 1939 (Nematoda: Dorylaimoidea) with description of ten new species from India. Proc. Helminthol. Soc. Washington 31:173-187.

Pena-Santiago, R. 2006. Dorylaimida Part 1. Superfamilies Belondiroidea, Nygolaimoidea and Tylencholaimoidea. Pp 326-391 in  E. Abebe, István Andrássy, W. Traunspurger (eds) Freshwater Nematodes: Ecology and Taxonomy. CABI Publishing.

Siddiqi, M.R. 1968. Five new sopecies of Belondiroidea (Nematoda) from Sibsagar, India, with a revised classification of the superfamily. mProc. Helminht Sopc. Washington 35:248-258.

Thorne, G. 1939. A monograph of the nematodes of the superfamily Dorylaimoidea. Capita Zool. 8: 1-263.

Yeates, G.W., T. Bongers, R. G. M. De Goede, D. W. Freckman, and S. S. Georgieva. 1993. Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera—An outline for soil ecologists. Journal of Nematology 25:315-331.

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